Reading's Litter Hotspots: Over 1,000 Fines Issued

Hotspots for littering in Reading have been revealed after special enforcers issued more than 1,000 fines.

The town centre and West Reading saw the most penalties — roughly 16 fines in the town centre and about 10 in West Reading, covering the Oxford Road area, Kensington Park and the area near the Tesco Extra in Portman Road.

The locations were mapped by Reading Borough Council and Kingdom Local Authority Support (KLAS), which was contracted last September to issue fines for littering and flytipping. KLAS officers have been on patrol across Reading and Caversham.

The patrol areas and where fines were issued were published in response to a question from councillor Anne Thompson (Liberal Democrats, Tilehurst). Cllr Thompson commented that flytipping and littering “continues to blight many parts of the town.”

So far, KLAS have issued 1,387 Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) fines for waste offences, including littering, fly‑tipping and breaches of waste duty of care. Of those, 866 have been paid, an average payment rate of 62 per cent.

Cases where fines have not been paid are being assessed by the council's contract services manager for legal review.

KLAS has been appointed on a 12‑month trial to boost enforcement. Fines are set at £1,000 for flytipping, £600 for incorrect bin disposal and £500 for littering. The littering fine can be reduced to £100 if paid within 10 days.

Cllr Rowland (Labour, Abbey) said: “At this stage in the trial, whilst there has been an increase in the number of waste investigations and an increase in the number of FPNs issued, the data does not show that there has been a reduction in the total number of fly‑tipping reports across the borough or in specific ward areas.

“Whilst the presence of KLAS officers may be most noticeable around the town centre, there are officers investigating in all corners of Reading.

“Most recently in February, the KLAS team have patrolled in all wards and as a result have issued FPNs for offences identified across the borough.”

The figures and the patrol/fine maps were revealed at a council policy committee meeting on Monday 16 March. Cllr Rowland is standing in the council elections on Thursday 7 May.

James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter