Seventy-eight people have been convicted after failing to to pay fines for environmental offences.

Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) are handed out by contractors NSL on behalf of Waltham Forest council for community crimes such as spitting and dropping cigarette butts.

Since April, most offenders were ordered to pay £250 fines. One person fined for spitting had to pay a £440 fine and £250 in costs.

The council introduced FPNs in November 2015 and since then nearly 4,500 have been issued.

While 67 per cent of people paid the fines on time, a minority refused to cough up and ended up in court.

This has led to fines and court costs of £23,000 in the past four months.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment said: “To anyone caught committing an enviro-crime in Waltham Forest the choice is simple – either pay the fixed penalty notice, or end up in court with a bill running into the hundreds.

“These results show how serious we are about wiping out enviro-crime in Waltham Forest.”

Officers wearing bodycameras patrol streets and hand out fixed penalty notices to anyone they see committing an enviro-crime.

The tactic has attracted criticism by some, with campaign group No CCTV branding the body cameras worn by officers in Waltham Forest: "new low in surveillance obsessed Britain".