Over half of litter bugs fail to pay fines

Just one in five who don’t pay on-the-spot fines are pursued

Litter bugs have little to fear from the law according to figures that show fewer than half of on-the-spot fines issued by local authorities for littering are paid but only a fraction of cases are pursued.

Councils issued almost 10,000 on-the-spot fines for littering last year but, on average, just 43% of those who were caught in the act paid up the €150 penalty.