UTTLESFORD District Council is continuing its crack-down on litter and other environmental issues that threaten to spoil the district.

Through its Keep Uttlesford Tidy campaign, the council is taking a hard line against environmental crime. In recent weeks it has removed four abandoned vehicles from the roadside – including three in the space of a single day – and issued another fixed penalty notice after catching a resident dropping litter.

An untaxed Ford Escort van was towed away from the High Street in Stebbing and an abandoned and untaxed Volkswagen Golf was removed from an access road next to Stoneyfield Drive in Stansted.

In addition, a Rover 25 was recovered from the side of Thaxted Road near Wimbish after its owner had crashed it and rolled it onto its side, before requesting that the council remove it under its legal obligations through the End of Life Vehicle Directive. All these were dealt with on the same day.

The fourth abandoned car the council removed also resulted in a successful prosecution after its owner moved from Saffron Walden to Great Dunmow – but decided not to take her Honda Accord with her.

The council wrote to her once the landowners in Hornbook reported the abandoned car, but she refused to remove it, leaving the council with no option but to take her to court, where she was fined �213 with �200 costs and a �15 victim surcharge.

The littering offence meanwhile was spotted by two enforcement officers while driving in Newport. A man was seen throwing a cigarette butt out of his car window in High Street and the officers contacted the vehicle’s registered keeper who said the man they had seen was her husband. A �75 fixed penalty notice was then sent to their home in the village, which was subsequently paid.

Leader of the council Cllr Jim Ketteridge said: “I hope these latest cases show that we continue to take all issues of littering and other environmental problems seriously. The council works hard to keep the district a clean and pleasant place.

“When appropriate, we will take action against the minority who seek to spoil it for others – whether this is through abandoning vehicles or dropping litter. There is no excuse and it is never acceptable.”