THE number of fines handed out for littering has increased from 43 a year in 2016 to more than 820 in a single month since the council employed a private contractor to enforce littering offences.

Figures revealed to the Telegraph and Argus following a Freedom of Information request show that 2,947 fixed penalty notices for littering have been issued by private security firm 3GS since the company was hired in July 2017.

In the same month, the fine for littering was increased from £75, or £50 for early payment, to £80 with no reduction for early payment.

And the council took no one to court for failing to pay a litter fine in 2015, 2016 or the first half of 2017. But since July 2017 it has brought 55 prosecutions against people for non-payment of fines.

Conservative Cllr Rebecca Poulsen welcomed the crackdown on littering but said the number of fines was "concerning".

She said: "If people have genuinely littered and been issued a fine and not paid it, I think it's perfectly right they are sent to court and that will send a strong message.

"But it's quite concerning that the numbers are going up, not down, because you hope it would be the other way around.

"You would anticipate that the numbers would decline as people become educated that littering isn't acceptable and you do risk getting a fine.

"We need to be careful that we education people so that they don't do this in the first place.

"I just hope that some of the money from these fines is going back into working with people and cleaning up, rather than just as an income stream."

In 2015 council officers issued 105 litter fines, but the amount of penalty notice issued dropped to 47 in 2016 and 43 were handed out by the council's own litter team in 2017.

There are just eight private enforcement officers and they are only patrolling the city centre and Keighley to target litter louts.

The figures also revealed that half of the fines issued by the 3GS officers went unpaid, compared to fines issued by council officers which were all paid or withdrawn.

To tackle the problem, Bradford Council said it has signed an agreement with the magistrates' court to bring 120 prosecutions a month against people who do not pay their fines.

A council spokesman said they predict there will be a "significant increase" in the number of prosecutions.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: “The substantial rise in fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for littering since we employed private enforcement officers last July shows that we have chosen an effective way of dealing with the problem of littering.

“Although it is too early to provide definitive evidence, our clean teams have reported that the city centre is looking cleaner and there is less litter for them to pick up.

“The number of prosecutions for non–payment of FPNs is also expected to rise over the next months.

"With the help of the courts we are now able to use a swifter judicial procedure which allows us to prosecute non-payers much more quickly.

"Future figures will reflect this.

“The message is clear. If you don’t want to be issued with an FPN, then don’t drop litter or create other mess.

"If you have been issued with an FPN and don’t want to end up paying a much more expensive penalty as well as acquiring a criminal record, then pay up.”

Cllr Martin Love from the Green Party also welcomed the council's work to stop litter louts but said they key was to stop people dropping waste on the streets in the first place.

He said: "I hope the message is getting through to people about how anti-social littering is. It would be interesting to see if there has been a decrease in the amount of litter collected to see if it has made a difference. But the key isn't to prosecute people, it's to stop people littering in the first place."