Episode 5 Dom on the Spot

'Never before have so many on-the- spot fines being 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.

-Round here they are an absolute blight.

-I'm up to 104 now.

-Wow.

-That is disgusting.

-Just walk away.

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

That was stupid for these sort of conditions.

'..simply selfish...'

Look at the mess you've created in the street.

-How is that our fault?

-'..or just...'

What is he doing?

'..well, 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'll be meeting one man talking a load of old rubbish

'with a £400 fine at stake.'

-Do you know what? Everyone who's been through this

-BLEEP

-bin,

get out now.

'And drivers who abuse disabled parking spaces

'face a fate worse than a fine.'

If you're actually embarrassed by what you've done,

would you mind just putting your hand up?

'It's a tough job policing our roads.'

You were doing 81, average speed.

Why have you got your phone between your lap?

I don't believe you were not using your phone.

'Today I'm out with Gloucestershire traffic cops

'PC Shelley Holloway and PC Olly Buxton.

'We're in an unmarked police car,

'which means traffic offenders can't see us coming.'

We're in Cheltenham town centre.

What are you likely to experience here?

Being unmarked is great, because obviously it's busier,

you're more likely to find people committing offences...

..from the simple things like not wearing their seatbelt...

'Over 95% of front-seat passengers

'in Great Britain do remember to buckle up,

'so you'd have to be a bit of a numpty not to.

'Speaking of which...'

Hiya. You're not wearing your seatbelt.

Is it done up under your body?

Can I have a chat about that, if it's all right?

Can you pull over and we'll have a chat?

'This driver has made a conscious decision to ignore the law

'and not wear his seatbelt.

'So it looks like it could be Shelley's first on-the-spot

'fine of the day.'

It's a brand-new car,

he's obviously got an alarm which will tell him he's not wearing his

seatbelt, so what they do to get around that is fasten it

and then sit on the seat so it stops the alarm going off.

It's a very deliberate effort to avoid wearing a seatbelt.

I can't see the logic in that.

-No shortage of work for you, Shelley.

-No shortage of work at all.

'I've got a feeling this could end up costing this driver.'

I could see you weren't wearing your seatbelt. Is this your vehicle?

OK, so how long have you had this vehicle?

OK.

'But hang on, there may be something

'much more serious going on in this car.'

I can smell cannabis in here.

Do you...? You don't use cannabis, no?

'Hold on a minute.'

There's a crowbar in the passenger seat.

Don't pick it up. What's that there for?

'If they find cannabis in this car,

'they could be looking at something

'even worse than an on-the-spot fine.'

Have you got anything on you you shouldn't have?

'So what are Shelley's options

'if this driver does have cannabis on him?'

Obviously with cannabis, if you've got a personal amount

it can be dealt with by way of a street caution,

we don't have to arrest.

That's why I gave you the opportunity to tell me whether

you've got anything on you, OK?

Olly, cannabis in the car, as well, smell of.

'All because he couldn't be bothered to wear his seatbelt.

'What does his passenger have to say?'

-You and your mate just got stopped.

-Yeah.

Your mate had pretended to put his seatbelt on.

-He clicked it into the little...

-Silly, isn't he?

-Why did he do that?

I don't know. He must...

He thought he put it on, but he put it over the back...

He couldn't have thought he put it on!

-He had to click it himself.

-He's a naughty lad, I give him that.

'I may have been born at night, but not last night.

'I don't know about cannabis, but I think I can smell a fine coming.'

What I need you to do is generate some saliva in your mouth

by rubbing your tongue on the inside of your left cheek three times,

then the inside of your right cheek

and then across the bottom of your inside of your lip three times.

And then stick your tongue out nice and long for me.

As a result of Shelley being able to smell cannabis on the driver -

and bear in mind this was a simple seatbelt stop -

she's now done a drugs test, she's taken a swab from his mouth,

and that's gone into some chemicals.

It takes eight minutes to get a result.

And as a result of her smelling that cannabis,

she's now also called in a dog unit.

So there's a dog going to be coming now, as far as I know.

He'll going over that car trying to spot any drugs that might be

hidden away.

'Eight minutes to wait to see if there's a fine coming.

'If he has been drug-driving, he could be looking at an unlimited

'fine and up to six months behind bars.

'But hang on,

'it looks like there could be yet another offence to add to the list.'

This rental agreement ends at two o'clock, though, today.

So you might not be insured.

'And if he wasn't in enough trouble already,

'the rental car he's driving was supposed to be returned an hour ago,

'so there may also be a fine for driving without insurance.

'I think this one may end up being a no-brainer.'

-As long as your credit card...

-It's the insurance I need to...

It's got to still be valid, because it's...

'PC Holloway calls the hire-car

'company to see if he is still insured.'

Hello, I've just stopped a vehicle belonging to you, and the agreement

ended at two o'clock today.

So I'm just ringing to find out whether you'd honour the cover.

No, I don't want an e-mail address, I'd like to speak to someone.

Am I talking to Avis?

In Barcelona?!

No, I rang the Bristol number on his agreement.

'Let's hope that's a mistake. It's a long drive to Barcelona.

'But this guy seems to be driving himself closer and closer

'to an on-the-spot fine.'

All this just from not wearing a seatbelt.

Not wearing a seatbelt, yeah. That's normally the way.

One thing throws up a lot of others.

If the hire company won't extend his insurance, what will happen then,

-do you know?

-He's driving without insurance then,

so the vehicle will be seized.

And, yeah, he'll be having a ticket, six points.

£200 fine.

'OK, so let's review the mounting evidence.

'This guy was caught not wearing his seatbelt.

'There might be drugs in the car,

'which means he could be found to be driving under the influence.

'And on top of that, he might not be insured.

'If it's all true, he could be looking at a shedload of fines,

'a driving ban and even a prison sentence.

'The canine reinforcements have arrived.

'Will there be drugs in the car?'

'As PC Holloway said, if this little guy finds anything,

'then a small amount for personal possession could be dealt with using

'a caution and an on-the-spot fine.

'Has the dog found something?

'The search is over.'

That's clear, then.

'It's clean, not a sausage.

'But what about the result for the drugs test?'

Shelley carried out a drugs test on him. Do you know the results?

I believe the drug test was negative.

'So, no on-the-spot fine for possession of cannabis,

'but that isn't the end of the list. What about the insurance?'

It's in his name, the agreement, so I just needed to check

they were still happy for him to have had the car

in his possession.

'Luckily for him, the car is still insured.

'But for the offence which opened this whole can of worms,

'not wearing his seatbelt, it's a £100 fine.'

So, as a result of spotting somebody trying to pretend they were wearing

a seatbelt, that turned into quite a little episode, didn't it?

It sure did. It normally does with me.

But, to be fair to both occupants of the car,

they clearly didn't have anything to hide today

and they were both very pleasant.

-If he'd worn his seatbelt, it wouldn't have even happened.

-No.

'Job done. On to the next.'

'Let's be honest, no-one wants to look out of their window and be

'greeted by a street full of dumped rubbish.

'Fly-tipping is a real eyesore, and it costs council-tax payers

'like you and I over £45 million a year for local councils

'to clear it up.

'Here in the Pendle district of Lancashire,

'clearing up the mess is down to environmental crime officer

'Lesley Brooks.

'She's had a tip-off about some household waste that's been dumped

'in a back alley in a residential area.'

Just going to a street in Nelson, Elizabeth Street.

One of the neighbours has phoned in to say

the occupants of this property have just recently moved in and they have

just cleared the contents of it out into this back alley.

'If it's just a case of putting the wrong rubbish out on the wrong day,

'then it might mean a fine of £75.

'But if the waste dumped is bad enough,

'the fine could be as much as £400.

'Time to check out the scene of the crime.'

This is what's supposed to have been thrown out onto the street,

I'm presuming, anyway.

'So far, a few bits of everyday rubbish.

'Not looking too bad at the moment.

'But hold your horses.'

I can't imagine that...

It's just a right mess all the way down this back alley!

Apparently it was cleared this morning,

so this has only just appeared this afternoon.

'What a horrible sight, right outside people's homes.'

I've been given the information that someone has recently moved in here,

so what they've done is just come to

the back door with whatever rubbish they've got

and slung it out.

This hasn't even been bagged up. Furniture's been thrown out.

I'll take photographs in case we're going to proceed with a prosecution.

'It looks a right mess and also pretty unhygienic.'

There's children here playing.

I presume these are the neighbours' children.

I suppose the one saving grace is it's not food waste.

But even so, you don't know what it's contaminated with.

'And to make matters worse,

'they've only gone and chucked away a Shakin' Stevens album!

'Now, surely that's just criminal. We all love a bit of Shaky.'

That's got needles and stuff in, so that can't be left.

'Needles? This gets worse and worse!

'Not only unsightly but dangerous, too.

'So, who is responsible for this shocking mess?

'Time for Lesley to turn detective.

'It's often impossible to tell, but in this case paperwork

'found amongst the rubbish confirms what Lesley already suspects.

'First step, is anybody home?'

Hiya. You all right? My name's Lesley Brooks,

environmental crime officer from Pendle Borough Council.

Could you just come round the back of your house for me and speak to me

-at the back of the property?

-I've just moved in today.

Right, so...

If you just open the back door and just come into the back...

The landlord's got the keys.

I'm just paying the deposit this morning.

-Right.

-We've just moved in. I'm her boyfriend.

Right, OK.

You on about all the rubbish at the back? It's scavengers everywhere.

'The new tenant's boyfriend is home

'but doesn't seem to think the rubbish is theirs.

'And if it's not theirs, who gets the on-the-spot fine?'

Well, yeah, it's disgusting, isn't it?

What it is, we've just paid the landlord,

the landlord comes tonight at five o'clock.

She's got to pay 600 quid and then she moves in.

I've just literally replastered, as you noticed.

I'm in there plastering at the moment.

But, yeah, it's disgusting.

'But Lesley isn't going to let this go.

'She has good evidence that the rubbish belongs to this house.'

The stuff is obviously from the property.

No. This... We've only... We've just decorated and moved in.

-Right, OK. So, when did you decorate?

-This morning.

-Right.

Tell me again.

There was no clothes in there. There was a big bag.

Here. It's all open, it's all across here.

-See all this paper? This was one bag. See this black bag?

-Yeah...

There was stuff coming out of it. That's from the house.

That was in this bin. There was only one bag come out the house.

'So this chap says the bag full of stripped-off

'wallpaper is his and nothing else.

'It's still dumped rubbish and still a fineable offence.'

So where was all this, then, at the weekend?

Here, when I got here. It was all out here.

'But I thought Lesley said there wasn't anything here this morning.

'Something's not adding up.'

When I come round the corner,

one of the neighbours' children has been sat in the middle of all this.

-Now, all right...

-That's disgusting, that.

..I would suggest that to avoid any further action

in regard to yourself...

You've already told me that that bag, that you done that,

-that you're going to clear that bit up.

-Happily. Happily, love.

'Time to lay it on the line, Lesley. Is it a fine or a warning?'

I'm not happy that it hasn't come from you and it's been slung out.

I know what you're saying about the paper, but there's too much here.

You need to tidy this up, and if not,

you'll get a letter from the council in regard to coming in

for an interview, and then you get the opportunity to officially put

your side of the story.

-Everyone who's been through this

-BLEEP

-bin, get out now!

'Well, that went well(!)'

Whoever's gone through the bin wants to get out their houses now.

I'm not bothered. I am not digging through that.

I'll help. If someone gives me help, because this is my missus's house,

-I will help. It's

-BLEEP

-disgusting.

I am fuming. I thought you was coming to help me.

-Getting letters and that,

-BLEEP...

-If I get the brush out in a minute,

love, sweep it all in a corner...

If I get the couches over here and I take pictures myself,

say someone else taking a picture with me as proof,

is that going to be enough from my end?

'This chap is adamant that this isn't his mess

'but is going to have a go at clearing it up.

'Will it be enough to avoid an on-the-spot fine, though?'

I'll come back in an hour.

Done.

All right, then. Thank you.

'So, let's look at the situation.

'We've got old furniture, electrical appliances, mattresses

'and, to top it all, a box of needles which could be contaminated

'in an area where there are kids playing.'

I didn't really believe his story that he hadn't done it all, but...

..well, we'll see.

'Whether or not Lesley believes this guy's story,

'she's got a few different options of how to deal with him.

'She can issue him with a caution,

'she could hand him an on-the-spot fine of up to £400,

'or he could face a court summons.

'I reckon the more you tidy now, fellas,

'the easier she might be on you.'

It's absolutely disgusting. I can't wait to go and get a bath.

'So Lesley's given the boys their promised hour,

'but will the back alley look any less abused?'

I'm presuming he's not going to be round the back,

but I'll have a look there first anyway, take photos.

-Wow.

-SHE LAUGHS

I didn't think he'd have made that good a job.

'What a transformation.'

Yeah, he's cleared it up.

He's made quite a good job of clearing it up, to be honest!

I'm surprised. If I just take photographs...

It's like a different back street, almost.

I'm very pleasantly surprised.

He's still not allowed to put stuff on the back street like this,

but he's made an effort in that it's all been cleared up.

'It costs the local council-tax payers of Pendle nearly £150,000

'a year to clear fly-tipped waste,

'and any efforts to reduce those costs have to be a good thing.

'So the boys' impressive tidying skills might just tip the balance in

'their favour. What is Lesley's verdict going to be?'

By rights, this shouldn't all be in the back alley now.

It's down to the senior environmental crime officer

if any further action was going to be taken,

but I think it's unlikely. You've done a good job clearing it all up.

'So it's a caution, even if he didn't think it was his fault.'

This was definitely not us. I admit to one bag.

'That's a good result. Don't spoil it, mate.'

Cheers, thank you very much.

I've just got to go for a bath.

'So no fine this time,

'but there's still work for Lesley and her team to do.'

Tidied up, but it may well be a mess tomorrow morning if people do come

along and sort through it.

So I need to make arrangements to try and get it moved

as quick as possible...

or we'll be back to square one again.

'In Pendle...

'environmental crime officer Jon Yurek

'has clocked on for a shift looking out for antisocial smokers.'

I'm in Nelson town centre now, dealing with

the offence of littering,

so I've just got my eyes on everyone as I can,

just making sure everyone puts their cigarette ends in the bins,

and if they don't, I will go and do my job.

'Jon can issue £75 fixed-penalty notices

'to smokers who drop their fag butts in the street.'

Here we go. One, two, three.

'What about her?

'OK, not this time.

'But Jon needs to keep his wits about him because fag-butt droppers

'come in all shapes and sizes.'

You can't pick and choose who you want to stop.

I can stop an old lady who's 96 years old,

probably been doing it her whole life.

That's how the game's played.

'And it's not long before Jon spots his first potential offender.

'It's a game of cat and mouse as Jon waits for his moment to pounce.'

SPAGHETTI WESTERN MUSIC PLAYS

'Just as soon as that fag hits that floor,

'he's off like a bee-stung stallion.'

INDISTINCT MUTTERING

All right, mate.

From Pendle Borough Council. Environmental crime officer.

You've just been stood out here with a cigarette and you just

-threw it like a bowling ball.

-Yeah.

-OK.

You left the cigarette there and came in here.

That's a littering offence, mate.

'Will Jon get his notebook out?'

Unfortunately, because you've done it,

I've got to take some details off you.

'It looks like he's got this smoker bang to rights.'

What happens now is the council will write to you.

You may get issued with a fixed-penalty notice,

you might get a caution.

Thank you very much, sir.

'It's now down to the council whether to issue a caution

'or a fine.

'But that dropped cigarette

'could end up costing this lad a whopping £75.'

'That could be Jon's first fag-butt fine of the day,

'and it's not long before Jon spots the next potential offender.'

SPAGHETTI WESTERN MUSIC PLAYS

-Hi, mate.

-Hiya.

From Pendle Borough Council.

You had a cigarette just then, a little roll-up cigarette.

Just before you met this gentleman, you threw it across there.

-That is littering.

-'Out comes the pad and pen.'

I'm going to take some details off you.

'But faced with the prospect of a £75 fine,

'it seems this chap has completely forgotten his name and address.'

What's your postcode? You don't know your own postcode?

'Jon has seen it all before.'

He was a bit slow in giving his details.

Sometimes what people do is they will think hard about themselves,

they might have an alias, so I get them to repeat the question and I

repeat the answer to them and then I ask them the question again.

If they remember what they've said, the chances are they're not lying.

'Temporary memory loss isn't fazing Jon.'

What I will do with his details he's given me now is I will go back to

my boss, we'll do a council-tax check,

verify the information he's given me, and if it is correct,

then I shall have the senior environmental crime officer

write to him,

explain to him what will happen next with regards to a fine or a caution.

'So, armed with at least some details,

'could this be an expensive cigarette?'

The fine for littering is £75.

But if you can't afford it,

and you can provide financial circumstances like you are on

benefits or something, you will be given a ten-week extension.

'If it doesn't get paid,

'then the man could receive a court summons and an even bigger fine

'of up to £2,500.'

'Two offenders down, and news of

'Jon's anti-fag-butt patrol has filtered through the town.'

Because I've been compromised, everyone's starting to look at me.

I've done two people now in quick vicinities,

so I'm going to leave and I will come back.

I'm going to go back to the van now.

'A productive morning for Jon, and for the unlucky two,

'they now face a wait to see if it's a caution or a fine

'that arrives in the post.

'And I wouldn't mind betting they think twice next time they light up.

'There are 2.5 million blue badges in use in the UK,

'allowing people with severe mobility issues to park for free

'in parking-restricted areas.

'But a shocking one in five are misused.

'In Eastbourne in East Sussex,

'council investigating officer Mark Jobling

'wants to stamp out the illegal use of blue badges

'once and for all.'

'To show me what he means,

'Mark and police colleague Lloyd take me to one of the town centre's

'disabled bays.

'But it's not long before Lloyd has spotted

'a potential blue-badge offender.'

She's a carer for a number of people.

She's come to pick a lady up from

the hearing centre around the corner.

We popped round there, she's not there.

'The carer says that she's heard the 90-year-old lady she is supposed

'to be picking up is unwell and still at home.

'But using the elderly lady's blue badge,

'the carer has decided to park up and go to the bank.'

So this is a sort of excuse you hear all the time, isn't it?

Yes.

'There's a chance this driver could end up in court being handed

'a £1,000 fine.'

Often when you speak to carers,

it's been a case of they've used the badge on a number of occasions,

either through ignorance or lack of understanding.

'So what is it going to be?

'The evidence is pretty clear cut.

'She's parking in a disabled bay using a blue badge that isn't hers.

'But have her excuses convinced Mark?'

You retain that badge.

She has broken the rules.

She shouldn't have been using that at all.

She has. She's committed an offence by displaying the badge in order for

-herself to park.

-'The driver is lucky.

'Despite breaking the law, Mark has decided not to pursue a fine.

'Instead, she'll be heading back to the classroom.

'We've all heard of speed awareness courses,

'but in East Sussex they do disability awareness courses.

'And I'm joining in for the day.'

From our point of view, we are trying to educate people,

and we hope not to see these people again.

And so far, out of all the resolutions we've done so far,

which is up to about 100, we haven't had anybody return yet.

That shows it's a success, doesn't it?

'The purpose of this course is to show that parking illegally

'in a disabled parking bay is not a victimless crime.'

Everything takes stamina.

Just a simple task of

just getting dressed or having a shower.

Having to move your body around is quite hard.

I would say if you understood what having a disability meant,

you wouldn't want to use my blue badge because it's closer.

You'd appreciate your legs and your ability to be able-bodied.

'Well, that certainly hammers things home.

'But what I want to know is - has it sunk in with our offenders?'

OK, that's the message from the people that it affects.

And that's why we do what we do.

I just didn't think about it at the time.

It was just quick in and out of the Post Office to get some money.

And who did the badge belong to?

-The wife.

-Right, but she wasn't with you?

-Nope.

-Does she know that you were using it when she wasn't there?

No, because it was the first time.

How do you feel about the fact that you're here now in this?

Yeah, I admitted the offence.

You think this classroom is good?

-Yes. Yeah.

-Will you ever do it again?

No.

'And for some, it's having the blue badge

'temporarily confiscated that has

'really hit home.'

Mark had to take the blue badge away...

-Yes.

-..for a few days and I couldn't take my wife out.

You'd robbed her of that privilege.

Yeah. So that's what made me feel bad.

Yeah. It affected the genuine person that could use it.

I learnt my lesson.

Yeah.

-Don't do it again.

-If you're embarrassed about what you've done,

would you mind putting your hand up so we can get an idea of...

-Yeah.

-You've had your wake-up call, haven't you?

You've been let off with a bit of a warning and, as you said,

no-one's going to do it again, so I think obviously the class has been

-quite good in what it's teaching people, hasn't it?

-Yes.

I was very impressed by everybody's reaction in there.

They all said they'd never, ever do it again.

They all seemed to have a reason why they did it.

It was nearly always the same one,

the fact that the badge was a legitimate badge

belonging to a friend, family member or whoever,

but they thought they could use it themselves

and they knew it was wrong. But I think this is a great thing.

The whole course took what? In total, 15 minutes.

Everyone said it's the last time they'd be seen in there.

As Mark said, no-one's ever been back twice.

This whole lesson here is having a very, very good impact.

Bye, cheers. Last one.

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.