A new crack team of wardens will patrol the streets of Aberdeen, armed with the power to issue on-the-spot fines for littering, dog fouling and fly-tipping.
Due to a surge in complaints about litter and dog poo from residents across the Granite City, Aberdeen City Council is launching a new crackdown.
The local authority is paying the National Enforcement Solutions (NES) organisation to prowl the streets and punish offenders.
A team leader and five officers will be empowered to deliver fines to litter louts, fly tippers and people not picking up after their dog.
The team will be on patrol from Wednesday, February 12, to help clean up Aberdeen’s streets.
Culprits will be hit with an £80 fine for littering or an £80 fine for dog fouling—rising to £100 if unpaid—and a whopping £500 fine for fly-tipping.
New specialist dog poo squad to clean Aberdeen’s streets clean.
Mark Wilson, community safety and city warden manager, said it will be fairly simple to issue fines on the spot for dog fouling and littering.
Having had success in England, NES wanted to bring its services to Scotland and, in particular, Aberdeen.
Mr Wilson said: “National Enforcement Solutions has offered an opportunity that hasn’t been done in Scotland yet, where they will come and issue notices which carry a cost.”
He hopes the sum raked in through fines will help to cover the costs of hiring the specialist squad.
But how will they know which areas to target?
Every complaint received from residents will be monitored to build a picture of which areas are most in need of attention.
The NES team will operate seven days a week, along with the council’s community wardens – who can often find themselves stretched as it is.
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‘Targeted patrols’ will fill gap in service
Mr Wilson said: “The great thing is this new team is far more able to carry out targeted patrols than our current city wardens.
“The challenge facing our city wardens is that they have a multi-functional role. They can’t spend as much dedicated time and resources as NES. There are also fewer wardens than there once were.
“We have been responding to a rise in reports over a prolonged period. We had to come up with a new solution on how we tackle this issue.”
Wardens on the team are locally recruited and know the areas they will be patrolling, operating on both a “reactive and proactive” basis.
Mr Wilson added: “The key message is to encourage people to think responsibly about how they dispose of their waste.”
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