PLANS for private wardens to fine litter louts were prematurely killed off even though the public wanted them, it has been claimed.

Poole council believed 400 people a month could have been ticketed if it entered a contract with enforcement firm Xfor.

The council has issued only 43 fines for littering offences since July 2010.

Jeff Williams, of Parkstone’s Jubilee Road Residents Association, wants the issue reconsidered, claiming there is “no enforcement” of the law on littering.

A consultation through the council’s Poole News publication drew 119 responses, with 64 per cent backing the idea.

But while the survey was being distributed, cabinet member Xena Dion wrote to the Daily Echo to say the idea would be dropped following negative feedback from the public at area committee meetings.

Mr Williams claimed early meetings in affluent areas had swayed the decision. “It’s a debacle,” he said. “She got powerful feedback from Canford Cliffs, but they don’t have a litter problem.”

He added: “On Ashley Road there are the fast food take-aways, smokers outside the pubs, the betting shops.

“The smoking lobby is very much against it. It’s very different when you’re speaking to residents taking children to school.”

Cllr Dion, cabinet member for the environment, said the issue was “not straightforward”

and ticketing was “not always popular”.

“Before spending public money on pursuing it, we wanted to get an early idea of what people thought about it, so the matter was raised at each of the area committees,” she said.

“The earliest feedback, from the committees, gave a very clear steer against using external enforcement companies and I stated at that time that I would be unwilling to pursue it based on such strong views.”

Wider consultation results had since come in and the idea was dropped by the council’s environment overview and scrutiny committee, she said.