Littering & Dog Foul
Burnley Council have a responsibility under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to act as the litter authority for the borough. This responsibility applies to all Council owned land and includes: street cleaning, litter collection, the removal of detritus, fly-posting, graffiti and fly-tipping.
The legal powers that enable Burnley Council to issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs).
The Council has powers to issue FPNs from a number of areas including the:
- Clean neighbourhoods and Environment Act (2005)External link
- Environmental Protection Act (1990) External link
- Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime & Policing Act (2014)External link
- Environmental Act (1995)External link
Our robust approach to enforcement activities is as a result of the Council’s customer satisfaction survey 2020, where 61% of residents stated that littering was a problem. Unfortunately, a minority of people still think it’s acceptable to throw litter and not pick up after their dog. We will continue to catch those who undertake environmental crime.
Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN)
A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) is a penalty payment for committing an environmental crime. There are no formal grounds of appeal against an FPN; it is an invitation for you to discharge your liability to prosecution.
Our Environmental Enforcement Officers, from our strategic partner Local Authority Support (LAS), will continue to issue fixed penalty notices to individuals caught committing environmental crimes. Once the FPN is paid, this stops the penalty from progressing to a registered fine or conviction in some circumstances.
Our team of Environmental Enforcement Officers will be wearing Body Worn Cameras, which will only be switched on when approaching people to issue fines and record conversations. The Officers will also let people know that they are being recorded.
Environmental crimes that can receive an FPN
Littering: £80
- Dropping litter anywhere is an offence. Litter is everything from food packaging to cigarette butts, chewing gum and bags of rubbish left out on the backstreet.
Dog fouling: £100
- If your dog fouls in a public place and you fail to pick it up, it is an offence.
Dog Control: £100
- If you take your dog into a children’s play area or anywhere stated in the Council’s Public Space Protection Order, it is an offence.
Click for more information about Public Space Protection Order.
Failing to pay the fine may make you liable to conviction for the offence
Appealing an FPN
You cannot appeal an FPN. If you dispute that you committed the offence and do not pay the FPN, the Council will commence prosecution proceedings and you will be provided with a court date where you will be able to plead your case to the Magistrates Court.
If you are unsure why the FPN has been issued or if you have any mitigating circumstances regarding the FPN you received, then please write to the following address:
Or telephone 0800 781 6229
The Council will prosecute unpaid FPNs
Please be aware that the Council is taking a ‘no-nonsense’ approach to environmental crime and will prosecute defendants who do not pay their FPNs.
How to ensure you don’t receive an FPN for littering
Place all litter that you generate in one of the many litter bins provided by the Council across the borough. However, please be aware that it is not feasible for the Council to place litter bins on every street, road and highway across the borough, as this would not be practical or affordable. Every effort is being made to place litter bins across the borough where they are needed. Where bins are not available, then it is up to residents to act responsibly and carry your litter to a bin or take your litter home.
Side Waste
Do not leave bags of waste to the side or on top of your wheelie bin on collection day, Burnley Council does not permit side waste of any type. Enforcement Officers regularly patrol the streets of Burnley, and anyone caught presenting waste incorrectly will be issued with an FPN or prosecuted.
Cigarette butts
Improperly discarded cigarette butts is littering and you can be issued with an FPN for not disposing of your cigarette butts correctly. Care should be taken to avoid any risk of fire and cigarette butts should be completely extinguished before the butt is placed in the bin. On certain litter bins across the borough, primarily in the town centre, a ‘butt plate’ is provided where the cigarette can be fully extinguished before placing in the bin.
Disposing of dog fouling to avoid an FPN
Please also be aware that dog fouling, once bagged, can be placed in any litter bin across the borough, not only the designated dog fouling bins.
How can I support this work?
Residents are encouraged to report in areas that they feel would benefit from a patrol, or any information that will assist in keeping our borough free from littering and dog fouling.
Tell us any information regarding dog fouling and fly-tipping –
Find out more
Find out more about LAS (part of Kingdom Services group)