a guide to improving your local environment - Keep Britain Tidy

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A Litter Abatement Notice may specify either, or both, of
the following (subsection (2)):
• A requirement for the litter or refuse to be cleared
within a certain time. In specifying a time period, local
authorities should take into consideration the
response times and guidance provided in the Code of
Practice on Litter and Refuse for the type of land and
litter in question.
• A prohibition on permitting the land to become defaced
by litter or refuse.
The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 amends this section
to allow local authorities to enter Crown and statutory
undertakers’ land (see earlier section on other duty
bodies), clear up litter and recover costs when a Litter
Abatement Notice has not been complied with.
LITTER
What can be done if others are causing
undue litter
Offence of leaving litter, prosecution and fixed penalties
(EPA 1990, ss.87 & 88)
It is an offence to throw down, drop or otherwise deposit
and leave litter under s.87 of the 1990 Act. The offence,
as extended by s.18 of the Clean Neighbourhoods and
Environment Act (CNEA) 2005, now applies to all places
that are open to the air, including private land and land
covered by water.
A person found guilty of the litter offence may be fined up
to £2,500 in a Magistrates’ Court (level 4 on the standard
scale). Section 88 allows an authorised officer of a litter
authority to issue Fixed Penalty Notices as an alternative
to prosecution. Local authorities can set the level of their
Fixed Penalty Notices within the range set out in
regulations made by the Secretary of State. Where the
local authority does not set an amount the fixed penalty
shall be £75.
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