LITTER laws are not being used to clean up Yorkshire despite more than 3,000 public complaints about rubbish every year, campaigners have claimed.

Councils have the power to give on-the-spot fines to anyone caught dropping litter.

But research by the Tidy Britain Group showed seven councils in Yorkshire and the Humber which responded had not used the penalties between April 1998 and March 1999.

And none took an offender to court for littering during the period.

The councils have not been named because the research was carried out confidentially.

But a City of York Council spokesman said: "In common with many other local authorities City of York Council does not make the prosecution of so-called litter louts a priority.

"Our resources in this area are concentrated on operating a good cleaning regime in the city, especially in the city centre, and the adequate provision of litter bins.

"However, while we do not have a major littering problem, we do agree with the Tidy Britain Group that more central government resources could be usefully targeted at this problem and we will back any Tidy Britain Group campaign to this end."

Of the seven local authorities questioned, three employed a dedicated member of staff to issue fines.

Deborah Bell, Tidy Britain Group's regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: "This report does not paint a very favourable picture and leads us to believe that councils are simply not prepared to use what are strong powers to fine or prosecute offenders.

"The most popular reason given for not using legislation is cost. Yet, when you consider the bill for cleaning UK streets is around £340 million a year, isn't it worth fining offenders as a sharp and effective deterrent?

"Tidy Britain Group calls on the police and councils to take the issue of littering far more seriously."