A FACEBOOK post criticising a litter enforcement officer for dishing out a fine has been condemned by BCP Council.

A woman took to social media on Tuesday, May 9, following an incident at Christchurch Retail Park where her friend was approached by a man after she allegedly littered in the car park.

The woman accused the man of not providing information about which department he worked for and described his approach as “aggressive”.

Images attached to the post, which has been shared more than 3,000 times, show the man was wearing a BCP Council uniform, had ID and was wearing a body worn camera.

His uniform shows he works with Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE), a third-party company which works in partnership with BCP Council to undertake investigations and issue fixed penalty notices for littering, flytipping, waste duty of care and fly-posting incidents.

In the post, the woman said the officer had “no rights” to obtain personal information.

However, according to the council, WISE officers have delegated powers and if an offence is witnessed and evidenced, it is a further offence if people do not provide their correct details when requested.

Bournemouth Echo:

Reacting to the post, a BCP Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of a Facebook post being shared locally, relating to an incident at Christchurch Retail Park on Barrack Road, where an individual received a Fixed Penalty Notice for dropping litter.

“This is not a scam.

“In March, on-the-spot fines were introduced across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to help tackle the environmental crime of littering. Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) has a contract with BCP Council to carry out littering enforcement in our area.

“It is a criminal offence to drop litter.”

The authority then directed residents to visit https://bit.ly/WasteEnforcement online for more information.

WISE can give fines of up to £150 to people caught littering. Their contract with the council followed a trial period in which 990 fines were handed out to residents for environmental offences across the region.