Those who drop litter and those who fly-tip waste in the County Town will soon face a big hike in penalties.

The government has announced a raft of new measures to help local authorities tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour and Maidstone Borough Council intends to make full use of them.

Under the plan, the maximum fine for littering that can be issued through a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) will rise from £150 to £500 – a 233% jump.

Similarly, the maximum fine that can be for fly-tipping will rise from £400 to £1,000.

There will also be bigger fines for these households who give domestic waste to an unlicensed contractor to dispose of – up from £400 to £600.

In special circumstances, local authorities can also choose to pursue offenders through the courts rather than issue a Fixed Penalty Notice, and in that case there will be no maximum on the size of the fine imposed, and the offender could also be jailed.

Cllr Partick Garten (Con) is the cabinet member in charge of environmental services. He said: “Fly-tipping and littering are extremely anti-social. They are a blight on our beautiful borough and have an environmental and economic impact on the community of Maidstone.

“We want to stamp out this behaviour and our Waste Crime Team is doing all it can to reduce the impact this has on the people of Maidstone. They will do this by way of enforcement action and will issue fixed penalty notices when needed.

“If they know that they are repeat offenders or when they’ve profited from collecting waste and illegally deposing it, we will use all our powers and to prosecute offenders through the courts.”

He added that Maidstone council had a “zero-tolerance” approach to waste crime and that council officers would seek to seize and destroy any vehicles used for fly-tipping.

The cabinet will formally decide on the new level of fines at its meeting on September 20, with the new penalties likely to come into force on Sunday, October 1.

There are other aspects to the government’s Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan, including the use of “hotspot policing” which will introduce a new immediate justice service that would compel perpetrators to swiftly clean up their own mess.

The recreational use of nitrous oxide (laughing gas) will banned and £59m put into a campaign to target drug dealing on the streets.

Details of the plan can be viewed here.

Ten areas of the country are currently trialling the new schemes, and if, successful they will be rolled out across Maidstone and the rest of the UK next year.