MORE than 500 people have been prosecuted by a council for failing to pay £75 on the spot fines for littering and dog fouling.

Kingdom Services officers have handed out 5,000 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) in Blackburn with Darwen since October.

Now the first group of 517 prosecutions for non-payment have gone through the court system using the cheaper, quicker single justice procedure.

All but a handful led to convictions for littering.

Senior councillors Andy Kay and Jim Smith, the borough’s resources and environment bosses, said the court cases showed that the council was serious about enforcing the crackdown to clear the streets of Blackburn and Darwen of litter, cigarette butts and dog mess.

The news of the prosecutions has been welcomed by Tory group leader Cllr John Slater and the borough’s lone Liberal Democrat Cllr Roy Davies who agreed with their Labour colleagues that the employment of Kingdom Services to tackle the issue had been a success.

In October the private firm was employed to tackle the issue with powers to issue £75 on the spot fines to those who drop litter and cigarette butts or let their dogs foul pavements and parks.

Despite criticism of them issuing fines on private land and claims they unfairly target smokers, Cllr Smith has hailed the crackdown a success.

In a report to Thursday’s full Council Forum, Cllr Kay stated: “Between February 26 2018 and May 29 2018 Legal Services sent 517 litter cases to court under the single justice procedure (SJP).

“The vast majority of these cases resulted in a conviction.”

The SJP is a swifter and cheaper process where a single magistrate hears a case without legal representation keeping costs to below £100 in total. Those convicted pay the full £65 fine plus legal fees for both parties.

The recipients of the FPNs can opt for a full magistrates court hearing but Cllr Kay and Cllr Smith said they were unaware of any choosing to do so.

Cllr Kay said: “We are using a quick and cheaper court process to keep costs to a minimum for the council and the defendants.

“Only a very few cases have failed to result in a conviction. These prosecutions show we are very serious about following through on the on the spot fines.”

Cllr Smith said: “We are determined to crack down on littering, dropping cigarette butts and dog fouling as this first group of prosecutions for non-payment clearly shows.

“I work on the bus station and I can clearly see the impact this has had on cleaning up Blackburn town centre.

“So far Kingdom has issued 30 fines for dog fouling. In the previous year the council issued just five.

“We want our two town centres to shine and our streets, parks and open spaces to be clean and tidy and the new crackdown is achieving just that.”

Darwen East’s Cllr Davies said: “I am delighted the council is following through on unpaid fines. You can already see the impact it has had on cleaning up Darwen town centre.”

Cllr Slater said: “I am pleased at these prosecutions.

“Employing a private contractor was a Conservative idea and it has proved a great success in cleaning up our borough. Some people have complained but most are clearly paying their fines.”