FIVE hundred pounds could be yours if you report a litter lout, as long as the offence occurs in the London Borough of Waltham Forest, north London.
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Waltham Forest council are so fed up with fly-tipping that they have decided to bring in a reward scheme to encourage people to report miscreants, all part of the Wiping Out Enviro Crime campaign.
“If Mrs Jones looks out of her window and sees a white van with the doors open and men dumping a sofa on the street we want her to write down the number plate and tell us,” said Councillor Afzal Akram, of Waltham Forest.
Akram hit out at critics who say the plan will be a boon for snoopers, nosey neighbours and curtain-twitchers.
“It’s not a snooper’s charter,” he said.
“I think the message is we want our streets clean and we don’t want people coming here and dumping rubbish.”
To claim the full £500, there would need to be a conviction followed by a maximum fine for the offender. £100 is up for grabs if council lawyers send out a summons plus a further £50 if a conviction follows.
While fly-tipping is the main target, the council is also keen for other forms of littering, including fouling by dogs, to be reported.
As if all that wasn’t enough to make would-be litterers think twice, Waltham Forest also boasts its own superhero in the form of Super Tidy Guy, whose mission is to “wipe out enviro crime”.
