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1000 Litter-Slobs Slapped With Fines In Only 3 Months
The Council's new city centre litter busters are cleaning-up with £80 on-the-spot fines
THE City Council's team of litter-busters are cleaning-up, with over £80,000 of fines slapped on litter-slobs in just over three months.
"The vast majority of local residents and visitors to Manchester don't want to see our city being used as a rubbish dump"
The dedicated team of officers - including Traffic Wardens and 25 PCSOs - patrol city centre streets seven days a week and have the power to hand out on-the-spot-fines of £80.
Since the team began in November 2014 they've caught over 1000 offenders dropping mostly cigarette butts, food wrappers and drinks containers, amongst other items.
While most of the notices have been issued on Market Street, High Street and Piccadilly Gardens, the team have been operating across the whole of the city centre.
The Traffic Warden-cum-Litter Busters
Cllr Bernard Priest, deputy leader of the council, said: "While litter bugs are in the minority, unfortunately there are still some selfish individuals whose behaviour is a blight on the city centre. The on-the-spot fines handed out make these litter louts take notice and realise that they will not be tolerated.
"The vast majority of local residents and visitors to Manchester don't want to see our city being used as a rubbish dump. Working together with local residents, visitors and businesses- we can achieve a cleaner better city."
The litter-busting team is the latest move in a litter crackdown organised by Manchester City Council in response to concerns from residents about the problem.
In September 2013 they announced a £14.5m city clean-up fund - made possible by a nifty airport dividend.
In December 2013 they released 'gum blasters' onto the city centre streets to jetwash 90,000 square metres of pavement with around 10,000 litres of water.
New Bins
In March 2014 the council announced they would be offering £200 grants to volunteers willing to help clean the streets.
And in June 2014 they spent £500,000 on 600 new bins for the city centre.
Anti-litter advertising slogans have also been placed on paving slabs – thought to be a first for a British city.
Now, let's get that city centre bin-emptying schedule sorted shall we?
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Hopefully they will use that money to clean the streets. Or fill in a few pot-holes. Something useful.
they need to break out the jet blasters again.
This is great news, although a huge amount of litter is dropped at night, so maybe getting the street sweepers to start really early and also getting some jet wash teams to disinfect the streets of vomit and urine at the same time.
Great news. Keep it up. Possibly have more out, even at night.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating.
STILL this whole conurbation (the very WORST area centrally is around Chapel St., in Salford..DISGUSTING with same rubbish in gutters for weeks on end...) by far the worst I have lived in ...Lived also in London, Glasgow & Edinburgh...We have a major job on our hands.Go on any bus and just look at the verdges, bus tops, hedges etc..Litter everywhere...
I don't like litter but these wardens are a waste of public money. Last year road deaths rose by 50% in Greater Manchester. Lots of careless, dangerous and criminal drivers are killing people. We should spend the available cash on helping to save lives, not on aesthetic considerations like litter. Sack the wardens and increase the number of traffic police.
Ridiculous! What's one thing got to do with the other? Where are the numbers that support your claim? Plucked out of the air?
The latest figures I found say they FELL by 28% in 2014..... www.theboltonnews.co.uk/…/…
Her are the figures - Fatalities up from 54 from 37 in the last year. www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/…/fatalities-greater-manchester-roads-rose-8649434… And what has one thing got to do with another? Well, you can only spend money once. If my roof is leaking I don't spend my money on fripperies like new wallpaper or furniture. When road deaths have rocketed it's irresponsible to spend money on trivial problems like litter.
Cleaning the streets and removing litter are not fripperies! You seem to have a very strange understanding of the way the world works, Anon.
Litter is not a trivial problem. We want people to invest in the city creating jobs and wealth. They won't do it if the city is strewn with rubbish. While each death is a disaster for the victims family and friends I doubt if Manchester's figures are any worse than any other big city. Cleaning up litter is very important.
Comparing the deaths on roads with cleaning up litter is just stupid. Accidents will always happen, given the amount of traffic in the city they are bound to. All the extra traffic in the city created by the expanding economy is bound to have had an effect on road traffic accidents. Should we stop developing the city? I see no point in moving money from litter picking to traffic management. You might as well say close all the schools and spend all the money on traffic calming. Silly argument from the first anon.
The fines bring in more money than the amount spent on wages for litter busters anyway. Re road accidents I think part of the reason they are up is because of the terrible state of the roads - markings, pot holes etc.
And what about the burbs???
Litter slobs should receive community payback litterpicking as well as a fine. It's a shame their mothers didn't teach them any better.
Driving around most places in the UK now, it's abundantly clear how filthy the country is. Roads, pavements, motorways and public spaces are strewn with litter and it's frankly disgusting. Perhaps it's time to take some lessons from Spain who had the same issues a decade ago and took some tough decisions to clean up.