Within 24 hours of being notified, the council called in a senior officer from the contractor demanding an explanation and, as a consequence, is taking action against them for breach of contract. The council also made the decision to withdraw the affected notices.
The FPNs were issued by the third-party contractor between Monday 6 May 2019 and Wednesday 12 June 2019 for fly-posting, breach of a Public Space Protection Order and fly-tipping. Letters have been sent out to all those concerned and outstanding FPNs have been cancelled. The council has also directed the company to reimburse those FPNs that were paid.
Cllr Aaron Watkins, portfolio holder for environment and sports and leisure, said: "Thurrock Council has taken strong action against a third-party contractor whose work has fallen woefully short of the standard that they are obliged to provide in their contracted service in the borough and which the council demands.
"We are working with residents and businesses to rectify this situation and would like to assure all those affected that these notices have been withdrawn and no further action will be taken.
"Environmental crime is a very serious issue and we know that residents support us taking tough action. In this case, standards have fallen well below what is expected but we would like to assure residents that these issues will be resolved and we will continue to crack down on those who blight our borough.”
