POLICE Community Support Officers are set to start fining litterbugs and dog owners who do not clean up after their pets on behalf of Oxford City Council.

Currently the city’s 57 Pcsos, who do not have the power of arrest, carry out high-visibility patrols, act as the eyes and ears for regular police officers and can issue fines for anti-social behaviour.

Now the council wants to use the officers to help clean up the city.

The authority hopes that the threat of £80 on-the-spot fines will stop flyposters, dog fouling and littering, including throwing cigarettes and chewing gum on the ground, because its own staff have not been catching enough people to make a big impact on the problem.

The council already has street wardens and environmental enforcement officers who can issue litter fines.

Richard Adams, the city’s community safety manager, said residents had asked for more to be done to tackle litter.

He added: “We only have a handful of enforcement officers and the street wardens work on the housing estates, so this leaves a gap.

“This is an opportunity for Pcsos to be given powers to help us problem solve issues such as litter. It seems nonsensical not to use them.

“I don’t think there’s an increase in litter, but there has been a change of emphasis in priorities of residents, ex-pressed through neighbourhood policing, towards environmental enforcement.”

The plan will be discussed by the council’s executive on Wednesday but already has police and council backing.

The council urged its own staff to step up efforts to enforce bylaws on litter after figures earlier this year showed just three people had been fined in the past three years.

Chief Insp Phil Standish, of Oxford police, said: “Antisocial behaviour is a consistent issue raised across the city through neighbourhood action groups.

“These additional powers would provide Pcsos with the ability to deal with identified local problems in their local neighbourhood areas.

“These are exactly the types of powers that can be used to target neighbourhood priority problems indentified by local people.”

More than half of people who responded to a council’s Community Safety Talk Back survey last year named litter as their number one antisocial behaviour concern.

The council aims to make 90 per cent of roads litter free by 2010.

John Grant, chairman of the Thames Valley Police Federation, said: “I can see the sense in this move.

“Litter is obviously a concern to residents, but is an issue I would not usually expect to see police officers being involved with on a day to day basis. Pcsos would be a suitable resource to fill that gap.”

mwilkinson@oxfordmail.couk l Tell us where dog fouling blights your area. Call Matt Wilkinson on 01865 425468.