Our Environmental Enforcement team may take action against you, if you commit an environmental crime. These offences cover a range of dangerous or antisocial behaviour which harms the safety or quality of life of the community. Typical examples are not disposing of your waste properly, such as fly tipping, littering or allowing your dog to foul public areas or other people's property. In most cases, you will receive a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN), though in more serious cases, we may prosecute you.
Fixed penalty amounts and payment deadlines
Below is a table of the typical fines for different environmental offences. You have 28 days to pay, or we may take you to court. In the case of littering, you can get a reduction in the amount of the fine, if you pay early (within 14 days of the date of issue of your FPN).
| Offence | Full charge | Early payment amount (within 14 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Dropping litter in the street, or from a vehicle | £150 | £100 |
| Not putting out domestic waste or recycling properly | £60 | N/a |
| Giving household waste to an unlicensed company for disposal | £300 | N/a |
| Allowing your dog to foul a street or public space | £50 | N/a |
| Fly tipping | £400 | N/a |
| Not putting commercial waste out properly | £100 | N/a |
| Failure to produce a waste transfer note for commercial waste | £300 | N/a |
| Failure to comply with a Community Protection Notice | £75 | N/a |
Before you pay
Before paying the fine on your Fixed Penalty Notice, you will need the following information:
- The reference number of your FPN (the number starts BA18, but may vary in length, and the combination of letters and numbers which follow)
- Your debit or credit card number
How to make your payment
B&NES Enforcement Officers are responsible for issuing FPNs, but all fine payments are taken and processed by a company called 3GS. They will manage the transaction, however you choose to pay.
Paying online, using a debit or credit card, is our preferred option, as it is the quickest and most efficient method.
Other ways of paying
By phone
If you can't use the online service, please call 01258 898 911 to pay over the phone with a debit or credit card (line is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
By post
You may also pay by post, although this is the slowest and most time-consuming way to pay, so please only use this service if you have no access to a debit or credit card.
- Please make a copy of your FPN for your own records
- Make a cheque for the fine amount, payable to 3GS Limited
- Send your cheque, together with the original FPN, to 3GS at this address:
- 3GS (in partnership with B&NES Council)
Payment Centre
PO Box 764
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S70 9NZ
- 3GS (in partnership with B&NES Council)
We cannot accept post-dated cheques, and we do not issue receipts for cheque or postal order payments. It can take several days for cheque or postal orders to arrive and be processed, so allow plenty of time if paying by this method.
If you disagree with the penalty charge
There is no formal appeal process for Fixed Penalty Notices issued for criminal behaviour, but we will review any case where you disagree with the charge you have received.
You can use our online complaint procedure, or call us on 01225 394041, explaining why you think you have received the Fixed Penalty Notice in error.
If we still believe you have committed an offence, after reviewing all available evidence, we will explain the decision to you.
If you fail to pay the charges
If you still disagree that you have committed an offence, or you fail to pay the fine for another reason, we will refer the case for a formal prosecution via the magistrate’s courts. It will then be up to the court to determine whether or not an you have committed an offence, and whether or not any penalty should be imposed.
If the court decides you still have to pay the fine, there may be extra legal costs to be paid.