A TOTAL of £50,000 has been used to pay for Colchester’s Litter Police.

In a bid to crack down on littering and associated antisocial behaviour in the town centre, Colchester Council is working with private security agency Artemis to deter litter louts breaching the terms of the town’s Public Space Protection Order.

Over two nights, a team of six enforcement officers issued a total of 55 fixed penalty notices of £100 to those predominantly caught littering or urinating in the street.

The income raised from the fixed penalty notices will be reinvested back into projects to keep the town centre a “clean and welcoming place”.

The new regime supports Colchester Council’s Better Colchester campaign, which has seen the council set aside about £2 million to deliver a two-year action plan.

Within the first year of Better Colchester, Artemis is contracted to deliver 12 night-time enforcements and one week of daytime enforcement.

A flat rate in the region of £50,000 has been allocated in the first year of Better Colchester, to cover additional enforcement activity.

This equals about 6.5 per cent of the £750k Better Colchester budget.