Durham County Council has scrapped the discounts offered for early payment of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued to people for fly-tipping, dropping litter and dog fouling.
Before the discounts ended, people caught fly-tipping could see their £400 FPN reduced to £180 if they paid early, while £150 littering fines were discounted to £100.
The new rules apply to all environmental offences, which include abandoning vehicles and ignoring notices to clear waste from properties.
Cllr Mark Wilkes, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and climate change, said: “By scrapping early payment discounts we are sending out a firm message that fly-tipping and other environmental offences will not be tolerated here.
“We do try to educate and engage wherever possible, but it’s important to back that up with tough enforcement.
“We know our communities care very deeply about these issues and that they expect us to pursue offenders and take firm action against them.
“Figures released earlier this year confirmed that fly-tipping in the county is at its lowest level ever, while the number of fines issued has increased.
“We want to build on that success and scrapping the early payment discounts strengthens our hand in that regard.
“We expect that we will carry out a further review of FPN levels as the government is giving councils powers to lift maximum fines across the board, with the fly-tipping maximum rising from £400 to £1,000 and littering from £150 to £500.
“That’s something we’re very much interested in exploring as we continue to tackle the minority who blight our communities.”
Among the other offences for which early payment discounts have been scrapped are failure to produce a valid license to transport waste and failure to produce documents. Both will result in a £300 FPN.
People abandoning a vehicle will be given a £200 FPN, with the reduction for early payment also scrapped.
In 2022/23, Durham County Council issued almost 2,000 FPNs for environmental offences.
