Episode 7 Dom on the Spot

Never before have so many on-the-spot fines been issued in Britain.

We're going to be following the men and women who hand out

over ?30 million worth of tickets every month...

Oops. Around here, they are an absolute blight.

I'm at 104 now.

Wow. That is disgusting.

Just walk away. Grrr.

'..for behaviour that's downright dangerous...'

That was stupid for these sort of conditions, wasn't it?

'..simply selfish...'

Look at the mess you've created in this street!

How is that our fault?

'..or just, well...' What is he doing?

'..plain silly.'

What a doughnut.

'We'll be revealing the cost of their bad behaviour...'

?100 fine.

Pays ?260.

Ouch.

'..and how this could affect you.'

I'll give him a punch. Do you want to see me kick off?

'The police are on it...'

What the...? Sir!

'..the parking wardens are on it...'

They should be thanking us for being here.

'..and I'm on it.' Careful, it's a 30mph limit here.

I'm Dom Littlewood

and I'm On The Spot.

Today, we're in stealth mode on the motorway as we pursue motorists risking a fine.

95mph now.

It's not going to be his lucky day, is it?

Do you know why I stopped you? Speeding. Yeah.

'We meet a farmer who's digging himself into a hole.'

You say you've cleared it up.

Yeah. Dug a hole and buried it, yeah.

'And will it be a fine or a close shave for this driver?'

Adrian, I've got more on my head than you've got on your tyre.

If you've ever been caught speeding,

not wearing a seatbelt or using your phone behind the wheel of a car,

you won't have had a very good day.

But if I told you in 2015 there were 23,000 deaths or serious injuries on

the roads, you might think twice about what you are doing.

So if you're not behaving behind the wheel of a car,

you can expect the police to be hot on your tail.

You were doing 81, average speed.

Can I see your phone, please?

Who were you on the phone to? I wasn't, I was holding that then.

You've got a child in the front passenger seat.

Why would it be your preference for her to sit in the front?

Drivers beware, traffic cop PC Shelley Holloway is on the case.

I think he just dropped it, under his shoulder.

We're on speed patrol in Gloucestershire and I'm along for the ride.

SIREN BLARES

When us Brits hit the motorway, a whopping 46% of us break the limit.

But PC Shelley Holloway and PC Oli Buxton

have a stealth approach to catching speeders.

This morning we're on the M5,

we're in an unmarked car today,

which I think is going to make quite a difference to what happens.

'If you're caught speeding,

'you could be looking at an on-the-spot ?100 fine,

'points on your licence or even a driving ban.'

There's a Jaguar just about to overtake us, we'll try him.

'This speed demon has no idea he's being tailed.'

What's he doing at the moment? It's 89.

Just do another one.

He appears to have picked up speed so we're running it again.

'His speed is rising well over the 70mph limit and he still doesn't know he's being clocked.'

95mph now.

It's not going to be his lucky day, is it?

Well, not really, given that we're doing over 90 ourselves.

We're having to put the lights on at the back to stop people overtaking us.

'A ?100 fine might stop this speeder in his tracks.'

This is obviously an endorsable offence

but I suppose it's in his favour that he's keeping it below 100,

because that would be a lot more serious, wouldn't it?

Yeah, certainly. Anything over 100mph is...

We're unable to give a traffic-offence report for it,

he would have to be reported for summons to court.

'This driver may have just narrowly avoided a court summons but he's

'highly unlikely to get off scot-free.'

Do you know why we've stopped you?

You were travelling in excess of the speed limit.

The speed limit is...

'The driver confirms they are well aware that

'the speed limit on the motorway is 70mph.'

We did three speed checks on you.

The first one was 89, the second was 95 and the third was 92mph,

average, over a set distance.

So it is unacceptable, unfortunately, to travel that fast.

'Is PC Holloway about to pull out the penalty notice book?'

Have you got points on your licence?

'The driver confirms that she already has six points on her licence,

'for speeding.

'Oh, dear. That's not a good start.

'The driver is asked to come and sit in the back of the police car for

'further questioning but she's not happy.'

There is nowhere to go. I'm not...

No, there isn't, we've just passed it.

OK? No.

'The driver says she doesn't feel safe being on the hard shoulder.

'Reluctantly, she makes her way to the police car.

'Now I'm in a safe position on the hard shoulder,

'let's see what's going on.'

Now, Shelley has asked the motorist if she would step into her car,

one, for safety, and also it's going to be a lot quieter for her,

she's got all of her documentation in there.

She's going to explain to her now what's happened about the fact

that she's been followed for quite a few miles, and discuss her speed.

There's also evidence on video, which if the woman is going to dispute anything,

she can have a chance to have a look at it,

which will hopefully free up the courts if anybody wants to argue their point.

As to what happens after them, that's at Shelley's discretion,

whether the woman gets a ticket or not I don't know.

I suspect probably so, because she was doing in excess of 90 for quite a while.

I'll just check your driving-licence status.

'But she's still complaining. Is this going to take a nasty turn?'

If you weren't speeding, we wouldn't have had to stop you.

I've heard your point but let's get on with this

and then we don't have to spend too long on the hard shoulder.

Standing on the hard shoulder, we all know, is very, very dangerous.

Now, that woman in the car at the moment is saying to Shelley

she's worried about her own safety from getting out from her car into this car

but the irony of that is, if she wasn't doing 90-plus miles per hour

down the motorway she wouldn't have had to.

Oli?

Can you grab the lady's handbag out of the car, please?

She needs her phone... Yes.

There's no insurance showing on the database.

'If the driver isn't insured,

'her car will be seized and she will be handed a ?300 fine.

'This isn't looking promising at all.

'The speedy motorist was going well over the limit on the motorway.

'She's already got six points on her licence

'and now it seems she might not be insured.'

But if we look at this and how it could go,

you might have had a woman there doing 95mph in the outside lane,

quite close to motorists in front...

Yeah, yeah. Potentially with no insurance. Potentially without insurance as well. You know...

That's pretty naughty. It is very naughty, it is very naughty.

And in fact, whilst I've been stood there watching other traffic go by,

there's people committing offences left, right and centre.

People on their phones, speeding,

you can see the brake lights go on, so, yeah,

I think there's always more work than we can cope with,

put it that way, so... Yeah, definitely.

Because it's such a huge company they don't actually have to be put on there,

so it's unfortunate but I would just advise her to ask her boss for documents in the vehicle

to prove that she's part of the company... Yeah.

'So it turns out the driver is insured through a company policy.'

OK, that's great. Thanks ever so much.

'But how is PC Holloway going to deal with the speeding offence?'

So, you've got six points on your licence currently.

Have they all been on the motorway? No, clearly not.

SP30 isn't the motorway, so you are quite close now to losing your licence.

'Could the driver be looking at a ?100 fine and three points

'or even a driving ban?'

OK, so you've just been reported for one speeding offence.

I'll let you get on your way now.

'It's a ?100 fine...

'..and three more points on her licence.'

Fly-tipping, or illegally dumping your rubbish,

is a pretty disgusting thing to do.

But it doesn't just affect the appearance of an area,

it can also be downright dangerous.

It can encourage vermin, spread disease

and be an added danger to your children.

But anybody who illegally dumps their rubbish can face a hefty fine,

criminal record and, in some cases, prison.

But fly-tipping doesn't just affect urban areas.

Because amongst Lancashire's delightful rolling hills

there's a blot on the landscape.

Scrap and litter dumped.

Fly-tipping is a huge problem across the country.

There were 900,000 cases last year and it cost taxpayers like you and me

?50 million to clear it all up.

But the penalties if you're caught fly-tipping are severe.

It could land you with a court appearance,

a fine of up to ?50,000 and even a prison sentence.

Did you have nightmares about that rat last night?

I did a bit, yeah.

Jon is an enforcement officer with Pendle Borough Council.

He's joined today by his colleague Matty and they're heading out

into the Lancashire countryside to follow up a lead.

This morning, a farmer rang up. A fly-tip's been reported by him.

He reckons it's about five to six black bin bags and then he said that that was

reported some days ago and that since then another set's been put there.

They may be able to issue massive fines for fly-tipping...

Initially, it looks to me like maybe a shed or garage.

..but these guys can't give it out unless they find the culprit first.

Here we go.

The irony of it is...made with household waste saved from landfill,

and it's been fly-tipped!

I think of it like an environmental autopsy.

You know, you see these...Dr G,

she's chopping bodies up to find out how they died, you know.

I find this is like the same kind of thing, we find out how it got there and who put it there.

CSI: Lancashire? Hmm, not quite as glamorous as Miami.

I just need a name or some kind of inkling as to how it got here.

Clever.

Clever people. Not only did this person have the intention of coming out here

and illegally dumping this waste but they've also made sure that they got rid of the name.

I'm disappointed that this person has got away with this.

The trail in this case has gone cold

but Jon has spotted another just around the corner.

They've stumbled across a massive illegal dump.

Whoever's been fly-tipping here has been doing it for a long time.

This case is so extreme,

Jon's called out his boss David to see it for himself.

It's all of it, the whole lot, the whole mound.

And all this waste isn't just making the place look untidy.

If it's eaten by animals it can sadly have fatal consequences.

Here's your carcass in here.

There's the wool.

And there's the ribcage.

It's a bit like Silence Of The Lambs, isn't it?

It's like that guy who goes out and skins all them people, he just can't stop.

It'll just be a matter of having a look through and

see if we can find any evidence.

It's frustrating because it's building waste

so it's very unlikely to find anything, and that's why they do it.

It's an eerie crime scene but super-sleuth Jon is determined to find a way

to bring the offender to justice.

This is serious stuff,

as whoever's responsible for the fly-tipping

could be facing that massive fine of up to ?50,000.

Hang on, what's this?

David... It's an invoice, isn't it? To make a payment by direct debit.

It's a calling card by the looks of things.

At last, the team may have a lead.

A name and address pulled from the rubbish might be that of the offender.

It could be an innocent party but this is what we've got to find out.

It'll be done through council-tax checks,

who's living at the property at the moment, who owns the property,

have they had any work done on it, so, yeah,

there's still quite a bit of digging to be done.

The next step for David is to find the farmer who owns the land

and see if he's aware of the problem.

If it turns out the farmer has allowed fly-tippers to dump on his land,

he could be facing some hefty fines too.

Hello, Mr Parker?

Yes, yes. Good morning.

Good morning, yeah. We need to have a chat with you.

Right. A few days ago, we were up on Cobb Lane.

Oh, yeah. It looks as though somebody's coming in to the field and fly-tipping or... That's what...

They come in at the top...

Yeah. That's what they were doing, yeah.

Do you know who that person... I don't know who it is, no.

You don't know? And they've not been doing it with your permission or anything? No, no. Right.

But you say you cleared it up.

Yeah. So where have you taken the stuff to?

Right, yeah. We've buried it, dug a hole and buried it, yeah.

Righty-ho. Is that OK?

You can't be doing that on your land.

Right, right. You've got to either have a permit to use your land for tipping... Right.

..otherwise you'll get in trouble with the... I didn't know that. ..Environment Agency.

But we'll go up and see what you've done with it.

Yeah. I'll just...

David and Jon need to see this for themselves.

By doing that now, what he's done is contaminated that land,

because we don't actually know the full extent of the fly-tip that was there.

We've got to go and have a look to see exactly how good a job he's buried it.

What's he done? He's just... Yeah.

He's not really dug a hole, has he?

He's just... No. ..made it into a big mound.

He's just, like, compacted it.

It's not the thorough clean-up that David was hoping for.

The fly-tippers may be long gone but it's the farmer who's responsible for clearing up the mess.

A huge mound of hazardous waste has been sitting on his land for months.

Details of the suspected fly-tipper have been found amongst the rubble.

Even if the tippers can't be found,

the farmer needs to make sure the waste is removed.

If he doesn't, he could be looking at a hefty fine.

So, how will David deal with it?

Erm...

Yeah, it's not fully tidied up, is it?

Not bad though, is it? Ooh...

No, it's not good enough to...

I mean, you've got a load of wrought-iron bedsprings...

Yeah, they want moving, I know.

This time, it's some friendly advice and a promise from the farmer to remove all the waste.

I mean, have you got a tractor with a...?

A loader... ..with a shovel on? Yes, yes.

Are you happy if we find out who has been tipping on your land?

Right... ..and prosecute them? Right, I see.

Are you? Wow... HE LAUGHS

Right, blooming heck. I can...

We've got someone to trace back to where the stuff has come from.

Right. And we might find out who it is.

Who it is, right.

We will then see them but obviously because it's your land,

it is not public land... Right. ..I need your consent to say

that, erm, nobody had permission to dump anything on your land.

Right, right.

Would you be happy to give that statement?

Right, I see. Heck.

That's a...

Well, I'll let you have a think about it. Yeah, that's right, yeah.

I've got your details. Erm...

because obviously, we've got to stop this

because otherwise it's just going to continue dumping.

OK, thank you for your time... Yeah... ..thank you for your time.

And I'll be in touch with you in a couple of days

to let you know what's going on, then, OK? Yeah, that's all right.

Right, thank you. Right.

Well, you've done nowt wrong, have you?

No, well, no. All right, speak to you again.

He wasn't too happy about getting involved in giving statements or anything, so...

I don't know how... Even if we track who it is,

if we don't get his cooperation, we won't be able to prosecute.

So, they've hit a dead end.

Without the farmer's permission to pursue the tippers,

it looks like this case will be closed.

What would we do if we didn't have traffic wardens?

Yeah, we need 'em. Could you imagine what it would be like if they weren't there?

Oh, it would be ridiculous, yeah. Yeah, it would be.

Well, you need traffic wardens to...

Or you'll have a deadlock, won't you, in the street?

Sometimes I think they are just out there just to get the tickets

and to get their commission and their money, so, no, I don't.

Especially when you're running back to your car and they're still there,

writing and they see you and they see you

and they still give you a ticket.

What do you think of traffic wardens?

I don't like them. Does anybody like them?

Bit of jobsworths sometimes, I'm afraid.

That's the most hated, like, job ever.

I would never want to have a job like that. Yeah.

It's a nuisance.

I've been caught by a couple of traffic wardens in the past,

and when I have been, I haven't appreciated them, but, saying that,

when I'm around town and I'm trying to get somewhere, yeah,

they keep the traffic moving, I suppose. Erm...

I don't know, jury's out on that one.

I'm not a fan but I do defend the traffic warden,

they are doing their job, so...

Whatever you think of traffic wardens,

without them, the roads would be like the Wild West.

And in Havering, north-east London,

problem parking is worse now than ever before.

In the past 20 years,

the number of cars on the roads has ballooned by 10 million.

The parking space hasn't.

Kam Paul is the CEO, Civil Enforcement Officer,

pitched against many machines.

Today, I just want the day to go peacefully.

A traffic warden on the front line.

I'll see how the day goes.

Kam's tooling up, armed to the teeth with tickets.

No day goes as expected.

And she's going to need them.

She can dish out fines of up to ?130 a pop.

She's heading to a part of town that always keeps her busy.

We've had quite a few incidents there,

so when I found out yesterday that I was going to be coming here,

I wasn't really looking forward to it.

But it's...

it's a part of the job.

Working in one of the country's most unloved professions,

Kam will need to keep her wits about her today.

You do frequently get incidents

where you will go through severe abuse,

and you've got a few youths up the road, screaming, "Jobsworth".

Boo.

Boo. Oh, just a "boo" then, yeah?

OK. The heckling won't put Kam off the job.

Could this be her first fine of the day?

Expired at 13.34, it's now 13.50,

so they've had, they've had more than their, er...

grace time, we call it. They get ten minutes' grace.

So why is the owner of this car in the danger zone?

They're 15 minutes overtime.

She waited, but tick-tock, it's a fair cop.

But now the owner of the car is back and he's not happy.

Well, it's saying that it's expired at 13.34.

The driver claims the machine spat out the wrong ticket.

I'm not saying that what you're saying is false,

it could be that it's a machine error,

what you'd need to do is appeal the ticket now, because I've already issued it.

Once the fine is issued, there's no going back.

Unfortunately, we're not allowed to take any tickets back,

because then it can look at it like we're taking a bribe or something.

He will need to appeal the ticket

and obviously it will have to be investigated.

You're always a bit concerned about the driver coming back,

you'd rather not get into confrontation.

When you're giving a ticket,

you'd rather just get through the ticket and walk away,

rather than being confronted by the driver,

cos they're obviously not going to be happy about it.

OK, this driver wants to just ignore and not face me,

so I'm just going to log him and walk off.

With no ticket and nothing to say, he could face a ?60 fine.

If he's still there...

in five minutes, we'll have him moved on.

Hang on, it seems Kam's finally caught the driver's eye.

Do you have a ticket, sir?

No, you need to get one, it's a pay-and-display.

He's still not going to get out.

So, I've logged him, anyway.

The silent driver is getting five minutes to either drive off,

or buy a ticket.

Their observation is up, I'm just going to take a picture,

so we can leave him to do what he wants to,

cos in five minutes, he's going to get a ticket regardless.

Obviously, he's in the car or not,

if he hasn't bought a ticket, he will be getting one.

But with Kam on the brink of issuing a ticket...

the driver decides to make a sharp exit. No fine...this time.

Every single pay-and-display here gives you a half-hour free ticket.

All you've got to do is key in your registration.

I don't understand why someone would not use that facility, it's free.

It's a free half-hour's parking.

It seems drivers just aren't reading the signs.

You'd be telling every driver individually

how to work the machines.

You do go through days

where you'll end up repeating yourself

millions of times throughout the day.

Get a half-hour free ticket, it is free, it doesn't cost anything.

It's down to Kam to put the message out.

You still need to go over to the machine and get a free ticket.

It's like Groundhog Day.

To get that half-hour free ticket,

you would need to key in your registration in the machine.

Right, it's a half-hour free ticket, it's not going to cost anything.

Your vehicle is in a pay-and-display, right? OK.

You would still need to buy a ticket.

I can understand if the person can't read,

you do get people who would much rather just hear it from your mouth,

although the instructions are there, quite clearly.

But it's OK, I can talk for the world.

On the high street, there are more issues.

The driver's left a child in the vehicle.

It's a disabled bay, ma'am.

Oh, just... It's a disabled bay.

It's not about "just", no parking in a disabled bay.

INDISTINCT

Right, ma'am, it's not about just,

you are in a disabled bay without a blue badge,

you're not allowed to be in this bay.

Even just. Yeah.

Thank you.

This lady is breaking the law.

Kam's snapped it, too.

Parking in a restricted bay with no ticket,

she could slap on a penalty charge notice of ?60.

She doesn't have a blue badge,

she's pretty capable of parking anywhere else,

that bay is there for people who are unfortunate enough to not be able to

be as mobile and flexible as us so her saying, "Oh, I'm just..."

There's no "just" about it, that is just for disabled people.

Will Kam report the motorist, or is she feeling lenient?

Because there was a child in the car as well and she was right by the

vehicle, she didn't actually leave the vehicle and go in and start shopping,

she was just talking to someone outside

and she was very polite about it.

Had she been a bit abusive,

I probably would have, because I do have the picture,

the photographic evidence, but...

we don't want to do the job in a mean way.

So, lucky for that woman, no abuse equals no fine.

But it was oh, so close.

It's been a busy day. A lot of confrontation,

a lot of friction with some of the drivers, obviously.

I'm going back in one piece and that's the main thing.

Some people think that giving traffic wardens grief

will encourage them to cancel their tickets,

but it just won't help.

The only real chance you have of not paying up is to appeal.

Today, I've come to the Environment and Traffic Adjudicators tribunal

in London to meet biker Elizabetha.

She's disputing an ?80 parking fine that she believes wasn't served

correctly, but will her fine be upheld by head adjudicator Caroline?

Elizabeth, have you ever used this service before?

Once. Oh, and how did it go?

Very well. OK, so you won that appeal? Yes.

So obviously you are feeling hopeful today that the fine's going to be squashed. Yes.

How much is it if it doesn't go through?

Er, something like ?190, or something like that.

Yes. So, it's now more than triple. And look...

And look. All this paper, yeah? Trees I've killed for this, yeah?

So that's my other thing.

If you don't win, it's going to be an expensive day.

It's going to be an expensive day, yes.

If you do, you've saved yourself 170, 180-odd pounds.

Yes. All right, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Yes, please. THEY LAUGH

It's up to head adjudicator Caroline Hamilton to decide whether or not

Elizabetha will have to cough up the readies.

Thank you. Hello, good morning. Have a seat.

I've got your case details up in the screen.

We'll look at it together and obviously you'll have every

opportunity of telling me why it is you disagree with their decision.

What they're saying, essentially,

is on the 9th of September of 2015 at 15.41,

your vehicle was seen in Highbury Station Road,

and it says that you were parked at a meter,

pay-and-display or voucher bay, but you hadn't made a payment.

It says you've appealed on the grounds that the contravention

didn't occur, but they've got evidence from the enforcement officer

demonstrating your vehicle was parked without clearly displaying

a valid pay-and-display ticket or voucher at Highbury Station Road.

So, it is true that I put my motorbike there. It is true...

Do you accept that it's in a bay where you're supposed to park?

Yes. Right. And did you park?

OK, this is the thing,

on a motorbike, differently from a car,

you can't put the four indicators on to say that you are just stationary

for a minute or something, do you know what I mean?

Did you pay to park? No, no, no. You didn't pay to park? No.

Why not? Because I was checking if the...

I was leaving the bike there rather than leaving it in the middle of the

road, of the main road, to check if the shop up there

could repair my phone, so it was just about going in.

So you parked, you didn't make a payment, you went into a shop...

Yes. ..to check if they could mend your phone?

Yes, and then came back. Right.

And where was the shop? Just across the road.

And...

A diagram is always useful, but I'm not sure it's going to help in this case.

Still, it's worth a shot.

Is this your vehicle? Yes.

You said that with such affection.

Nice bike. Right, so you say...

And rather than parking it here,

because here it is actually very trafficky.

Right. And it would've been in the middle of the road.

Yes. How long do you think you were away from your bike?

Three minutes, four minutes max,

but I remember even seeing the officer after,

that's why I was hoping it was going to be here.

Why is it that you think you were entitled to leave your bike there

without making a payment? Because I've always read about five minutes' grace.

It's a common misconception that there's always a grace period

before you're hit with a ticket.

It's not always the case, every council has different rules

and, unfortunately, that mistake has cost Elizabetha.

I understand what you're saying,

I think you are mistaken in your belief that you are entitled to a period of grace,

but on this occasion, here, he's logged your vehicle, he's taken...

Can you see that I have even got stuff in my box,

I was so sure that I was coming back in a second?

I'm sure you are quite right, I'm sure you were coming back in a second.

But I tried to have a conversation with the officer because I saw him going away.

And I said, "Come on, mate."

I actually said it. What, you were walking after him?

Yes. I said, "Come on, mate..."

I see. I was there only for four minutes or two minutes.

Right. But the ticket had been issued at that point. Yes.

So Elizabetha parked her bike in a pay-and-display space when

she nipped into a shop, but she didn't buy a ticket.

She was only gone a few minutes and thinks the fine is unfair.

So will Caroline side with her or uphold the council's decision?

This idea that you have got that if you leave your bike on,

you can nip off and do things...

No...

Because I heard...

No. You're wrong about that. I heard that if you put your light on... No.

..you are not, basically, parked.

I understand what you are saying, I understand why you are here,

unfortunately you haven't got a ground of appeal,

you weren't allowed to be there, they were entitled to issue you a ticket.

When you park, even if you are in a motorbike, you're like any other motorist,

if you park in a pay-and-display bay, you have to pay.

You're not allowed to park to go off and make inquiries in shops,

it doesn't work like that, you weren't entitled to be there.

I'm not going to be able to allow your appeal, as I said,

and the penalty amount is now ?80 and essentially the law is not on your side.

All right, thank you very much for coming. Thank you.

So it is an ?80 fine,

less than she thought it might be,

but I get the feeling Elizabetha's not exactly celebrating.

Elizabetha, I suspect you're not very happy right now. No.

I saw the traffic warden, I told him, "Mate, come on,

"I was there for two minutes."

He didn't even turn his back.

I think this is unfair. I told the judge,

she made her decision based on whatever the evidences were,

which is fair enough. If I still have the right to appeal, I will.

And, unfortunately, on a motorbike, you can't indicate.

Your hazard lights on. The hazard lights.

I ride a motorbike,

so I know what you are saying and you don't have hazard lights

on most bikes, you know, especially older bikes as well.

What I can tell you, you know,

obviously the decision has been made now,

is that anywhere in the country,

having your hazard lights on does not allow you to park technically unlawfully.

But it does give you an indication that I'm there for just a minute

so you might want to wait for the...

It's for them to observe...

To observe, yes. ..medical conditions or if there is a problem.

Yeah, for three minutes. Three minutes, come on, man.

Amongst the unspoiled country lanes and green fields of Suffolk...

..there's an unpleasant problem.

Because when you look a bit closer,

the grassy verges of the A14 are full of...

waste.

A popular thing here is human waste.

You might call it toilet tipping.

That's urine again.

Somebody has not been able to hold themselves

and filled the container and thrown it out.

Whatever happened to crossing your legs?

Disgusting.

Chucking waste out of your car, human or otherwise,

can net you a fine of ?80.

But these litter louts are long gone.

It's a big problem,

200,000 sacks of rubbish are collected from England's roads every year.

These areas often

result in what we call fly-tips as well. We end up with all sorts.

If you are caught fly-tipping,

you could face a court appearance and a fine of up to ?50,000.

John Buckingham is the operations manager at Mid Suffolk Council.

He's a man on a mission to track down the culprits of fly-tipping.

I'm terrible, if I go on holiday, I can't help but look at the verges.

My wife tells me off. I say, "Look at the state of that!"

But some litter the team find definitely wasn't thrown out of a car window.

We found a chest freezer,

a large chest freezer fly-tipped, so someone has gone to an awful lot of

effort to stop at this lay-by and fly-tip a freezer.

If John can track down this tipper,

he can send them to court to face a fine of up to ?50,000.

But will he find enough evidence to catch the offender?

Perhaps there is a name stuck to the side.

No. Sadly, this time, there is no clue of who dumped it.

So all that can be done is to dispose of the freezer properly.

Just like the tipper should have done in the first place.

We can smell it from here so

there's probably some waste in it now,

so good job we have picked it up, really.

Councils collect 7,500 tonnes of litter from our roads every year.

It seems some people don't give a monkey's about the mess they are creating.

This is a particularly dirty area again,

one of our hot spots, as we call them.

And not only is littering bad for the environment,

it's a problem for our pockets, too.

We mop it up with two-and-a-half guys full time,

so it comes to a lot of money.

And working at the sides of busy,

dangerous roads isn't exactly a walk in the park for these guys either.

You're right beside the traffic and obviously we do it as safely

as we can. You've got lorries going past, you've got wind,

we've got wind blast and obviously it can be pretty bad at times, yeah.

There have even been serious injuries in the line of duty.

This is the most dangerous job we do in the council.

If people kept their waste, you know, within their vehicles somehow,

it would save all this work and all this effort by this team.

Every bag of litter they fill costs taxpayers ?40.

We've had it before where people actually throw stuff while we are

actually litter picking,

which is really disheartening, but we just get on with the job.

It's a hard job, but we just get on with it, you know,

and do what we can.

For the council, having to clean all this up really is pants.

I think the 5p bag tax has made a bit of difference.

We are not getting the carrier bags we did,

but fly-tipping doesn't seem to go down,

it just seems to increase.

It's not surprising that Britain's one of the most named and shamed

litter-blighted countries in Europe.

I think the more that we can get the message out there that, you know,

this is taxpayers' money at the end of the day,

and whether it be a small part or not,

it's money that we wouldn't have to spend if we didn't have to be

continually picking up litter.

Right, it's just gone nine o'clock in the morning and I'm going out on

motorway patrol with Jay, in his unmarked Beemer.

Let's see what today brings.

QJ1563...

I'm heading into the rural back roads in a stealth police car

with PC Jay Clifton.

It's an effective way to catch naughty motorists in the act.

Jay, this is the earliest in the morning I have been out with you guys,

what have we got in store today, what are we likely to expect?

We can expect absolutely anything.

Anything can happen. We're going to stay rural for a while.

People who try to avoid the police tend to take the back roads,

thinking that we only do major roads.

It's on these quieter B-roads that crooks and traffic offenders

often think they are safe from the long arm of the law.

But not today.

So what sort of things will people be trying to avoid?

So probably drink-driving, I'm assuming.

Drink-driving. Yeah. No insurance.

Petty crime as well, if they commit petty crime and they want to get from

A to B, use the back roads.

Anyone caught by Jay is looking at a ?100 on-the-spot fine.

So let's see if we can get alongside.

A motorist has been spotted on their mobile phone while driving.

But even when Jay turns on his lights,

the lady is so distracted by her phone,

she doesn't spot she's being pulled over.

Nearly a quarter of all road fatalities caused by distractions

involved mobile-phone use.

She's been caught in the act, she is still on her phone.

Jay is not happy.

HORN BEEPS

You, pull over.

Follow me.

Well, she was on that a long while, wasn't she?

Yeah. All the way. I don't know if you noticed that she had an earpiece in.

Yeah. She's going to say that she wasn't using a hand-held phone,

she was using a hands-free because her earpiece was in.

We could see that she had the phone in her hand...

Yep. Therefore, she was... She was using the phone.

And I actually saw the thumb moving across the screen there as well.

So I think...

She may be on a bit of a sticky wicket on this one.

Do you want to come over here? OK, the reason I have stopped you is...

As I have come past you, you have got your mobile phone in your hand,

chatting away, your thumb is going across the screen.

It is an offence to drive a motor vehicle whilst using a hand-held mobile device.

In relation to that,

you don't have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention now something

you later rely on in court and anything you do say may be given in evidence.

Is there any lawful reason that you can give me as to why you are using your phone?

The lady says that she is lost and was using the maps

on her phone to find her way to work.

Is that a good enough excuse or is she heading for an on-the-spot fine?

The lady has just told us that she would rather not be on camera

and the reason for that is because what she has done will be rather

embarrassing for her in the job that she is in, and obviously we are not

going to tell you what sort of job that is

in case people recognise her.

But for that reason,

even more so, don't use your phone when you are driving around.

So what are this driver's chances?

She was witnessed using a hand-held mobile phone behind the wheel.

But will Jay give her a ?100 fine or let her off with a caution?

Jump in that side for me.

It's not looking hopeful.

Is Jay about to throw the book at her?

Points stay on your licence for four years,

but they are only valid for three.

It's a fine and a painful three penalty points on her licence.

Maybe that driver will think twice

before using a phone again behind the wheel.

What was that lady's defence?

That she was using her phone as a mapping system

and I think she was also using it as a mobile phone because we could see

the earpiece hanging out of the ear.

So really, I mean, as far as distraction is concerned,

that was like double bad, wasn't it?

Oh, massively. If she was chatting away and having an in-depth

conversation about where she is going

and also she is trying to use the mapping system

so she is not concentrating on the road,

her mind is elsewhere, it's a double whammy.

That's just asking for trouble.

Back on the road, Jay is setting up his secret weapon.

The stealth car is fitted with a clever bit of kit called an ANPR.

It scans car number plates and checks them against a police database.

That car has caught your attention. Why?

As it has come through, I have just done a quick check on it on my system

and it's showing that insurance is not being held on it,

so we are going to stop it and have a quick chat with the driver.

Oh, he's pulling off.

Might make it a bit easier for us.

If it turns out this guy has been driving without insurance,

he could be looking at a ?300 fine and six points on his licence.

Do you want to step over here for me, fella?

The reason I have stopped you is you have come past,

my car has had a quick scan of your car...

Yeah. It tells me that it hasn't got any insurance.

That's cool, that's not a problem.

I've just got a temporary car insurance.

Well timed. Looks like this guy has come prepared.

That's all right.

Do you want to just dig out the information?

Yeah. That would be very good. And you got it yesterday?

Adrian, you have just been pulled over. Yes.

The officer thought you had no insurance.

I have, I've got temporary for the last...

For the next week. So it is your lucky day, really,

isn't it? It is, yes. How do you feel about being pulled over?

I suppose the police are just doing their job and he's got to do his job

so fair play to him, I suppose.

Yeah? You have no grief, no...

No, no, safety first, isn't it? Yeah, exactly.

It's my life and everyone else's life so...

Well, obviously you are a sensible driver, aren't you? Insurance is important, make sure you get some.

He is doing an advert for insurance now!

Everything else with the car is all good? Yeah.

So as far as you're concerned, he's doing a good job, you should be on your way soon.

Everything is great, yeah.

Actually, it might not be.

Has Jay spotted a problem?

All the way, as far as you can.

This guy's front tyre is almost balder than an eagle.

Right. Now this could be a fine.

You are getting beyond low, OK?

Yeah. You can see that line here.

That one? Yeah, OK, that is...

You can see the edge. Right, I'll make sure I will get them next week before...

I'll have a quick look at the other one.

Yes, sure. Because that is really, really, really low.

He avoided stumping up for driving without insurance, but driving

with a bald tyre carries an on-the-spot fine of ?100

and three penalty points.

So, what's it to be, Jay?

That's good. The tyres just scrape the legal limit.

It really is this driver's lucky day as he narrowly avoids another fine.

I reckon, give it a week or so,

you're going to have cord showing through, which you don't want.

No. OK? So my advice is get it sorted out, other than that you are good.

OK, thanks very much. No, thank you for your time.

Adrian, I have got more on my head than you have got on your tyre.

I'm joining you!

This is the first time I have actually been pulled over,

and it's been quite a good experience,

rather than a bad experience, as sometimes it can be a little bit hairy,

you never know, you can be intimidated maybe, you know?

Yeah? But you felt it was all good?

Yeah. There you go. Thumbs up, Jay.

I like that. Thumbs up from me. Thank you, Officer. Cheers, Adrian.

Cheers, Adrian, drive safely.

Nice to see a happy customer.

He had better get that tyre looked at, though.

That's all for today. Join me next time, when I'll be out with the men

and women who issue Britain's on-the-spot fines.

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