THE number of fines handed out for littering, dog fouling and begging and cash points in Newport has rocketed since a change was made to the working hours of community safety wardens in the city.

Newport council changed the wardens' shift patterns in October so they could spend more hours during the daytime in the city centre and other ‘hotspot’ areas. Since Monday, October 7, they have been patrolling the streets from 1pm to 10pm, seven days a week.

And in this first month wardens handed out 77 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) - compared with just 12 in the same month in 2018.

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This is also a significant increase compared with the rest of this year – 31 in April, 12 in May, 13 in June, 27 in July, 12 in August and 35 in September.

Speaking at a Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting earlier this week, Cllr Ray Truman, cabinet member for licensing and regulation, said most of these fines were handed out for littering, but some were also issues for fly-tipping, dog fouling and in relation to begging at cash points.

Councillor Truman thanked wardens for accepting the change in hours and said their work makes an “important contribution to improving the city’s environment.”

“We wanted the wardens to be more visible and to be on the streets when it was felt they would have most impact,” he said.

“The significant increase in the number of FPNs issued during the first month following the new shift pattern appears to support that approach and I hope it will continue.”

The wardens respond to complaints about anti-social behaviour, noise nuisance, littering and dog fouling.

Members of the public can report incidents via email – incidents.wardens@newport.gov.uk or by calling 01633 656656 from 8am to 6pm and 01633 656667 after 6pm.