LITTER enforcers could soon be on the streets of Devizes to hand out fines to people who are spotted dropping food cartons and other rubbish.

Devizes Town Council is in discussion with East Hampshire District Council which has appointed a team to combat litter louts and is offering its services to other shopping areas.

Devizes town clerk Simon Fisher said: “We have had a bit of a problem with litter in the centre of Devizes and we would like to nip it in the bud before it gets any worse.

“East Hampshire has employed people to do this work and we are now in discussions with them about exactly how it would work in Devizes.

“It is likely that they would come to the town on different days a certain number of times a month.”

But he said the town council wanted to make sure that the enforcers would not be too heavy handed.

He said: “We do not want them following people and giving them a penalty notice for dropping a tiny bit of paper or a bit of food.

“We would want to make sure that the enforcement is carried out in a sensible fashion.”

He believes that people would become more careful about dropping litter if they thought they might be pulled up about it.

He said: “The majority of people coming to Devizes are very good and put their litter in a bin.”

A report to the council’s community and civic resources committee said: “Should Devizes Town Council decide to enter into an agreement with East Hampshire Council, they will provide the enforcement staffing to issue fixed penalty notices and legal support services to ensure that small councils such as Devizes can recover any fines issued through enforcement action.

“East Hampshirehas emphasised that the service is not purely profit driven, therefore will exercise greater levels of discretion than other providers.”