Enforcement officers are not doing a good job of tackling litter issues in a village, a community leader has said.

A report discussed by Llay Community Council at its meeting last week showed Kingdom, a third party contractor engaged by Wrexham Council to undertake environmental enforcement duties across the county, had visited the village only four times in December.

The report also showed all visits the company had made to parks across Wrexham; there were none for Alyn Waters.

Cllr Dave Adams told colleagues: “We discussed in the last meeting the possibility of employing a litter enforcement officer – but it looks like our council is already employing litter enforcement officers who are not doing a very good job for Llay.

“Turning up four times and finding nothing and never visiting Alyn Waters doesn’t seem right.

“We need to get in touch with them so they turn up at the right times and not when they feel like it when there’s no one around.”

According to the report, enforcement officers visited the Grosvenor area 35 times in December, during which 115 fixed penalty notices were issued.

Cllr Rob Walsh said: “I spoke to Kingdom just before Christmas because I was getting complaints about the Eighth Avenue and Hunters Way areas.

“They have said what they want is for people to fill in online forms stating where the problems are so they have a log of it and areas which are shown to be a problem they will target.

“I think the reason they go to Grosvenor more is that it is a more compact area with more people and it is easier for them to make money.

“Let’s be blunt – Kingdom is a private company and their ultimate goal is to make a profit.

“I am all for litter enforcement and against dog fouling but we need to be mindful of what their ultimate goal is.

“One of the big problems in Llay is dog fouling and it seems to be whoever the culprits are, they are taking their dogs out at night where they know enforcement officers are not going to catch them. That makes it worse because we have dog owners who are deliberately being irresponsible.”

The community council agreed to send a letter to Wrexham Council to raise their concerns over the frequency and times of the enforcement officer visits.

Cllr David A Bithell, lead member for environment and transport, said he would encourage councils and the public to report dog fouling.

He said: “We have a programme for regular ward visits and there is more focus on dog fouling.

“Our message has not changed – if you don’t allow your dog to foul or you don’t drop litter you have nothing to fear. We all want a clean environment and there is no excuse.”

Incidents of littering and dog fouling can be reported at www.wrexham.gov.uk/
online, email contact-us@wrexham.gov.uk or telephone 01978 298989.