Stewartry litter louts are going unpunished.
Not a single fine was issued for littering in the district last year.
And it was a similar situation when it came to people being punished for throwing rubbish from their cars.
Local MSP, Finlay Carson, said: “It is upsetting to see rubbish strewn around our town centres and roadside verges, especially the A75 which is used by many visitors to the area.
“What must they think when they see all our beautiful countryside then notice all the litter?”
Figures uncovered by the Scottish Conservatives following a Freedom of Information request show that just 16 fixed-penalty notices were issued for littering in 2022/23 – down from 19 in each of the previous two years.
And none of those 16 fines were in the Stewartry, where three had been dished out across the previous two years.
Of those 16 fines, nine were issued to people who had thrown litter from their cars in 2022/23, compared to 13 in each of the previous two years.
Once again, there were no fines in the Stewartry last year with two the year before.
Mr Carson is hopeful that the change from a SNP/Labour council administration to one led by his Tory colleagues will see the situation improve.
He said: “The previous administration was clearly not interested in tackling this menace as the number of people hit with fixed penalty notices is alarmingly low.
“So, why should people be bothered to take their rubbish home to dump it when they can just let it fall to the ground and walk away.”
The amount of rubbish strewn along the grass verges on the A75 is shocking and hardly a great advert for tourists visiting the area for the first time.
“Paper, plastic bottles and cans are just being dumped anywhere along rural road verges and, in particular, on the A75.
A council spokesman said the local authority was “proactively engaging with communities across our region to collect litter”.
He added: “Part of this work has taken place through 240 litter picking events during the Spring Clean Scotland campaign that ran from March 17 to April 17. The impact of lifting a significant number of bags over the four week campaign has had a great impact on the nature, environment, and look of our region. Council services will continue to work together with individuals and community groups to remove litter while ensuring information and education is provided to prevent littering.
“All reports of fly tipping and littering that come into the council’s community safety team are thoroughly investigated in an attempt to identify those who commit such offences, unfortunately on the vast majority of occasions any waste found very rarely has any identifying evidence to assist the team’s enquiries.
“Often the litter cannot be traced back to any particular individual, mainly through lack of identifiable information on the refuse. This leaves the council with the responsibility of removing this waste when it is found on public land.”
He asked people to report littering and fly tipping by calling 030 33 33 3000 by emailing communitysafetyteam@dumgal.gov.uk.
Fly tipping can also be reported online at https://info.dumgal.gov.uk/faultreporting2/AntiSocial/FlyTipping
