Driver fined for littering

A van driver has been fined after a tiny hidden camera filmed him dropping a drinks can in Stafford.

The litter lout was filmed tossing the can out of his window by a miniature camera hidden in the Marston Lane area of Beaconside.

He was then tracked down through his vehicle’s registration number and issued with a £75 fixed penalty notice.

The camera was one of several which Stafford Borough Council is using to crack down on fly tipping and littering across the borough.

The concealed CCTV cameras - not much bigger than a £2 coin - have been placed at fly tipping and littering hotspots around the area. They capture images which the council can then use to identify and prosecute offenders.

As part of a high profile campaign last year, officers from the council’s Streetscene team issued yellow cards to warn people they would be taking a zero tolerance approach to litter bugs in the future. Posters publicising the penalties went up across the area and the team also handed out special pouches for cigarette ends to highlight the problem of people throwing their used butts onto the floor.

The borough council spends around £1 million every year keeping the Stafford area clean. And its cabinet member for environment and health, Councillor Stan Highfield, said people who rubbished the area would be punished.

Councillor Highfield said: “The vast majority of people who care about the environment will have very little sympathy for those who continue to treat the area as a giant dustbin.

“We had a long education campaign which received excellent coverage in the local newspapers and on radio but if people still refuse to heed the warnings then they will be hit in the pocket.”

Previous cases have included a woman who was given a £75 penalty for dumping rubbish in the Wildwood area of Stafford and a lorry driver hit with a £100 fine by local magistrates when he refused to pay a fixed penalty notice for littering in the borough.