LITTER droppers who give false details will be punished more severely, the council has warned.
The messages comes after the authority was given one full day of court time each month to deal with people who haven’t paid their litter fines in full.
Some 61 people were due to attend court on March 6 to answer charges of littering in the town centre, and three of these also faced charges of giving false details.
The 58 who gave correct details were given fines of £35, with court costs of £120 and a victim surcharge of £20, totalling £175 each.
However, the three who had given false details to the officers when they received their on-the-spot fine for littering were punished much more severely.
They received fines of £400, costs of £120 and a £40 victim surcharge (£20 for each offence) totalling £560 each.
Haralds Gindra, 59, Tamara Maximova, 26, and Marek Ziolkowski, 23, were all caught dropping cigarette ends.
Each litterer was investigated by council officers working in partnership with 3GS, the company who are contracted to provide environmental enforcement in the town centre area.
Coun Roy Miller, cabinet spokesperson for place, said: "The work done by 3GS in the town centre area since May 2014 has helped with this considerably.
"Some people still think they can avoid paying a fine by giving false details, but they should think twice - these cases are fully investigated and where possible prosecutions will be brought for giving false details as well as the offence of littering.
"The fines of £560 each for those who gave false details should be a deterrent to other who think they can get away with it.
"The answer is simple - don’t drop litter, put it in a bin, or keep it with you until you find one."
