A plan to fine people up to £500 for spitting in the street may not be enforceable, according to opposition councillors.

Almost all of the 602 people who took part in a public consultation on whether spitting should be banned in Redbridge agreed with the move.

The Labour leadership is hoping to use an existing byelaw to issue fines of up to £500 for the offence, which could be introduced within six months.

But councillors yesterday raised concerns about how the ban would be enforced.

Conservative Tom McLaren said: “The real question is how it can be enforced and whether anyone will be caught, because I don’t think they will."

Liberal Democrat Ian Bond said: "I don’t want to see officers hanging around outside stations or trailing people, but this has happened in other boroughs."

The proposal must be sanctioned by Secretary of State for Communities, Eric Pickles, who recently approved a similar scheme in Enfield.

Waltham Forest council last year classified spitting as littering in order to issue fines of up to £80, but Redbridge council lawyers concluded this was not a legally sound approach and have chosen to use a byelaw instead.

Cllr Ross Hatfull, cabinet member for community safety and enforcement, said: "We believe that a fine is a necessary deterrent to those who engage in this revolting behaviour."

For more on this story, see this week's Guardian - out Thursday.