Litter companies may be 'named and shamed'

Darlington Borough Council believes the companies are the worst offenders in the town for not cleaning up litter created by their customers.

Shops have a statutory obligation to ensure the area around their premises is kept litter free and businesses can be fined thousands of pounds if they fail to comply.

Last year, the council launched an anti-litter campaign with the backing of The Northern Echo.

As part of the campaign, letters were sent to hundreds of businesses in the town asking them to sign up to a code of conduct.

The code asked the businesses to join the fight against litter by, among other things, keeping their premises clean, providing bins and looking after their local environment.

Although many businesses have agreed to the code, others have failed to support it.

The council has now written to ten of the companies in the town who produce a lot of litter but have failed to clear it up or join the scheme. The letters remind the companies of their legal responsibility and about the anti-litter scheme.

A council spokesman said: "A lot of litter in the town comes from a few specific shops and businesses. These businesses were told about the campaign and the new code of conduct, but we have not had replies from them.

"Because they are such bad offenders we have written again, and this time warned them they will be named and shamed if they do not join the campaign or start clearing up the litter."

In the weeks after its launch, the litter campaign was declared a success.

Wardens imposed a number of £50 on-the-spot fines to people who dropped rubbish in the town centre.

A litter squad also received dozens of calls from residents concerned about litter in specific areas of the town and cleared them up.

However, earlier this month the council announced it would be carrying out more spot-checks as there had been a noticeable increase in the amount of litter in the town centre in recent weeks.