Exclusive data shows a 67% fall in the number of fixed penalty notices handed out by councils across Surrey to people for dropping rubbish.
The figures have been revealed as part of InYourArea.co.uk’sDon’t Trash Our Future campaign – launched in summer last year, it aims to address the epidemic of littering in the UK.
A survey conducted then, of more than 7,500 people, found 85% saw litter as a big or major issue in their area, and almost two thirds (64%) thought levels got worse as lockdown restrictions eased.
In 2019, 1,386 fines were issued across Surrey but in 2020 that dropped to 453, according to Freedom of Information requests to the councils in the county.
However, there was a wide variation in the number of fines issued by different councils and two – Epsom and Ewell, and Elmbridge – did not respond with figures.
Mole Valley and Tandridge haven’t issued any fines since at least 2016, while in Runnymede and Surrey Heath, there were no fixed penalty notices issued in 2020.
In Woking, there were 269 fixed penalty notices issued in 2020, up from 205 in 2019.
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