1,500 litter louts fined in Belfast last year

Almost 1,500 litter louts were fined on-the-spot in Belfast last year for littering the city’s streets, it emerged today.

As it launched the latest phase of its anti-litter campaign, the city council revealed 425 penalties have also been issued since April this year.

However despite the figures, councillors insisted citizens were getting better at keeping their city tidy.

Councillor Cathal Mullaghan, the SDLP chairman of the health and environmental services committee in City Hall, said: “Since we launched our ’Don’t drop it, stop it!’ campaign back in February 2004, research shows that littering trends have been improving and the message is starting to get through that it is everyone’s responsibility to help create a clean and attractive city for all.

“We know that people living in Belfast want to contribute to keeping our streets litter-free because we’ve had more than 2,000 volunteers taking part in council-organised community clean-ups since April this year.”

According to the survey carried out at the start of this year, almost half of those polled (45%) admitted to dropping litter compared to 57% three years ago.

People caught littering Belfast’s streets currently face a £50 (€73) on-the-spot fine.

The council’s anti-litter ads will be broadcast on television throughout this month, in October and February next year. Adverts will also appear on buses in the city.