MAGISTRATES are backing a council's crackdown on littering.
When two Redcar men did not turn up at Teesside Magistrates' Court for failing to pay on-the-spot £50 fines for dumping litter, the bench ordered each to pay £350 in fines and costs.
The court was told both Terry Fletcher, of Queen Street, and Lee Smith, of Arundel Street, refused to pay the on-the-spot fines handed out by community street wardens - despite 14 days' notice to pay and a further 14 days grace after a follow-up letter.
Neither man appeared in court and so each was fined £100 for the offence, and £250 costs.
Councillor Joyce Benbow, the council's cabinet member for community safety, said she hoped the cases would serve as a serious message to others.
She said: "We don't want to issue these fines in the first place. We want our citizens to have a pride in their area, but if they engage in this sort of environmental vandalism, they must expect to pay the penalty."
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