THE eye-watering sums of money taken by Kingdom from Wirral’s litterers have been revealed – as well as what those funds are spent on.

In a Freedom of Information (FOI) request published on WhatDoTheyKnow.com, it has been revealed that during 2015/16, a total of £116,000 income was generated by Wirral Council from fixed penalty notices, while in 2016/17, the figure was £60,000 – a total of £176,000.

The council said the majority of that income – £106,715 – has been spent, and revealed the chosen schemes for the money that included anti-litter and fly-tipping campaigns.

Cllr Phillip Brightmore, Wirral’s cabinet member for environment, said: “We have always stated that any proceeds from litter fixed penalty notices would be reinvested into environmental projects in Wirral, addressing the damage caused by the kind of environmental crime that attracts FPNs in the first place.

“This is borne out by the figures that show more than £100,000 has been spent over the last two years. Income arising from FPNs goes directly back into keeping Wirral beautiful.”

Almost £21,000 of that was on a behaviour change study, with £33,000 on anti-dog fouling work and the Love Wirral campaign, which encourages people to take pride in their local environment through litter picks and clean ups.

Around £45,000 of that was spent on the Grot Spots campaign – a scheme to get 18 of the borough’s biggest fly-tipping sites cleared up after they were nominated by local councillors.

Cllr Brightmore described the scheme as “clearing areas in private or disputed ownership of entrenched environmental concern”, adding: “Such places are often the blight of communities.”

A further £7,000 went on CCTV surveillance kit, the FOI – originally submitted by Siobhan Grindley – added.

Kingdom began issuing fixed penalty notices on behalf of Wirral council back in July 2015, so the vast majority of the £176,000 would have been collected by fines – usually £80 each – issued by the private enforcement firm.

According to the Wirral council website, it is a crime to drop and leave any form of litter including fast food wrappers and packaging, chewing gum, cigarette butts and other smoking-related products and flyers left on windscreens.

Cllr Brightmore added: “Wirral Council is determined to maintain our borough as a wonderful place to live, work and visit.”