Thousands of litter louts have been stung with on-the-spot fines in a Kent borough over the last three-and-a-half years.

Litter enforcement firm, Kingdom, handed out 11,345 fixed penalty notices in Dartford for people caught littering or failing to clean up their dog's muck between January 25, 2016 and August 31 this year.

Dartford council leader Jeremy Kite (Con), whose administration hired the private company to work in the borough, described littering as a "modern menace" and said: "This is the reason we took Kingdom on."

But, the shadow leader of the council, Cllr Sacha Gosine (Lab) was sceptical about the policy, which he described as too "heavy handed" and said he favours an "education" approach rather than "penalising residents".

Controversially, Kingdom is expected to be given greater enforcement powers and a two-year contract extension during next week's cabinet meeting to be held at Dartford Civic Centre on Thursday October 31.

Dartford council's seven-person cabinet will meet this Halloween to decide whether to extend the existing service for another two years, until January 2022 - the current contract will expire on January 25, 2020.

If approved, the private company's network will expand across the entire district rather than the existing hotspots in Dartford town centre and the borough's railway stations, such as Swanscombe and Greenhithe.

In addition, Kingdom officers will be permitted to dish out fines for several other offences, including gratifying (£80), throwing litter out of vehicles (£80) and public space protection order breaches (£100).

The newly proposed arrangement would lead to a projected annual income of around £133,995 for the local authority, council bosses say.

Cllr Kite, who is also a Kent County councillor, added: "These are not decisions we have taken lightly...but my view is that littering is an avoidable menace to our society."

But his counterpart, Cllr Gosine said: "I'm sceptical about how much this reflects a reality."

The Ebbsfleet councillor urged for more scrutiny against Kingdom and a more in-house council approach to tackling litter rather than relying on private companies.

He said: "I do not think it's a black and white issue...I have been told that some people have been accused of littering when actually they haven't."

Kingdom were first awarded a three-year contract by Dartford council in January 2017 after a successful six-month trial period and have since been authorised to issue fixed penalty notices for littering (£75) and dog fouling (£50).

Dartford is one of at least eight councils in Kent that Kingdom provides environmental protection services for, including Maidstone, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Thanet, Ashford, Gravesham and Swale.

But, the private firm's service has been marred in controversy over the last three years.

It was the subject of a BBC Panorama documentary in May 2017, which found some "litter police" officers received bonuses for issuing fines.

Addressing these concerns, Cllr Kite said Dartford council was taking a different approach with Kingdom and said: "Unlike some councils, our contract is one based around people's intention to litter."

Dartford council has paid a total of £466,450 to hire the litter enforcement group over the last 46 months, but has received an income of just over £136,000 after collecting a total of £602,680 from the fines.

Cllr Kite said the raised funds is then used to purchase additional bins for the borough and to make Dartford a "greener environment".

Around 72 per cent of the fines have been jointly paid to Kingdom and Dartford Borough Council and the local authority has been forced to pay £50,980 in court costs for those who did not pay their fixed penalty notice.

The cabinet will determine the outcome during a public meeting at Dartford Civic Centre, in Home Gardens, on Thursday, October 31 from 7pm.

Read more: All the latest news from Dartford