WARDENS issued penalties to 1,146 people for dropping litter and dog fouling in the 11 months since a new team began patrolling the borough.

The figures were included in a council report that calls on the local authority to retain the environmental wardens following a 12 month pilot scheme.

Councillors at this afternoon's cabinet meeting backed proposals for the wardens scheme to continue. The wardens are said to achieve "environmental improvements" through increased enforcement of littering, waste and dog fouling through on the spot fines.

Each year the council receives approximately 1,500 complaints connected to dog fouling, fly tipping and litter and spends almost £2m on "street cleansing".

Councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron cabinet member for a green borough said: "The idea of the wardens came from the public that put litter in the top three things they were most concerned about.

"The reason we introduced the 12 month trial was because we had never done anything like this before.

"I understand if someone is fined they might not agree but the majority of people accept they have done something wrong. A small amount do argue with the charge."

In the previous years 53 fixed penalty notices were handed out for dog fouling with none served for any other 'environmental offences'. Since the launch of the environmental wardens service 1,146 penalties were handed out for littering and fouling the first 48 weeks.

Of these 785 had been paid. There have been 95 successful prosecutions for non-payments and a further 72 are pending. No cases have been lost when heard at the magistrates' court.

The total income received directly from fixed penalty notices is £38,855.

In the proposals outlined to councillors the report states: "Should the environmental wardens service continue there is every reason to believe that it will be able to deliver improved outcomes over subsequent years."

To maintain four staff as well as providing two vehicles will cost £114,500 but Cllr Gomez-Aspron said the income of the fixed penalty notices and a reduction in the street cleaning bill would offset the costs.

He added: "We spend nearly £2m a year on street cleansing. If the wardens can help people stop littering it will reduce the cleansing budget. This is about the same amount that my portfolio has to find in cuts because of this government.

"Some people choose to litter but this is not just a local problem. We want to educate people not to litter. Some people may say it's over the top but the easy way not to get fined is not to litter."