Denbighshire police fines reach £250,000

Jun 25 2008 by Martin Williams, Rhyl Visitor

PEOPLE misbehaving in Denbighshire handed over £250,000 in fines to police last year.

A massive 6,179 fines were handed out by North Wales Police last year for public order offences and anti-social behaviour.

Individual offences range from dropping litter and throwing fireworks in the street to trespassing on a railway and wasting police time

Only 3,170 offenders chose to send the payment to police before further action was taken, while 2,834 of them failed to pay their fines within the time limits and were registered as unpaid with the courts. A total of 92 fines were cancelled and 82 cases either opted for a court hearing or are ongoing.

Vale of Clwyd MP Chris Ruane feels this brand of instant justice addresses issues that concern his constituents: “I’m really pleased that North Wales Police are using the fixed penalty laws to combat anti-social behaviour,” he said.