Plans to fine people up to £500 for spitting in the street is going to cabinet, which will then refer it to Eric Pickles to rubberstamp, it was announced yesterday.

Cllr Ross Hatfull, cabinet member for community safety and enforcement, made the announcement yesterday evening at the full council meeting at Redbridge town hall, in Ilford.

A total of 94 per cent 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.

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.

Conservative Cllr Tom McLaren had previously questioned whether the enforcement would be successful because of it would be difficult to spot someone spitting.

At the meeting yesterday he called for a report to be published into how many people had been caught spitting in the months after it had been introduced to make sure it was working.

Cllr Ross Hatfull said: “It is not about catching as many people as possible, it is about a message of deterrance for this horrible act.

"We are committed to stamping it out as the public consultation was our most popular ever, it was a major shock when I heard the opposition councillors were questioning it.

“The cabinet will now be asked to introduce the byelaw and then government ministers will have to pass it but I am confident we will not have an issue.

“There will be a review of our enforcement teams to make sure we have the capacity to enforce this strongly.”