Litter wardens are being handed beefed-up powers to deal with mess and anti-social behaviour across the Canterbury district.

With more than 2,000 tickets handed out for litter in the city in less than a year, including eight for urinating in the street, wardens will now be introduced in Whitstable and Herne Bay before the summer.

With the scheme also extended in Canterbury, the wardens will be given the authority to intervene in instances of nuisance buskers, dog fouling and poorly positioned A-boards or tables and chairs.

In a report before members of the city council’s executive last Thursday, head of safer neighbourhoods Doug Rattray said: “The pilot has run with little negative press and good support from the public and local businesses.

“Shops within the city centre have supported the initiative and officers during this time, along with our police partners, who have assisted on occasions when individuals have refused to give their details.”

Last year the council contracted private firm Kingdom to patrol Canterbury city centre and issue £80 on-the-spot fines to anyone seen littering.

Council statistics for the 10 months of the scheme show that 2,160 tickets were handed out. Of those, 102 were cancelled due to “mitigating circumstances”, while 209 have not been paid and are heading towards court action.

The council says that 313 people have come forward with concerns or complaints. Some said they could not afford to pay the fine while others asked for a payment plan to be set up.

Some have complained about the behaviour of the wardens, who turn on body cameras when approaching litterbugs. One warden was later sacked and another warned about his behaviour.

Despite this, the city council hopes that the private wardens will in the future be trained to have the same powers as the city council-employed wardens to deal with illegal parking.

Cllr Rosemary Doyle, the executive member for the environment, believes the litter wardens have made a noticeable effect in Canterbury.

“We have had a couple of litter awareness days and everyone who has come up to us has condemned people who drop litter,” she said.

“It is very much in the public eye at the moment and we need to re-educate people that it’s not a good idea to litter or urinate. The wardens really have made a difference.”

Cllr Andrew Cook, the council’s executive member for enforcement, said eight people had been fined for public urination, a practice he described as “repulsive”.

He said: “We are going to tackle this issue and we will continue with the litter wardens, which have been very successful so far. That is why the wardens are going to Herne Bay and Whitstable.”

Cllr Terry Westgate added: “We are going in the right direction with this. I’m fully supportive of it and would like to see it expand to other parts of the district.”