Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN)
A Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) is a notice that can be issued when a person commits an offence in any public or private place. FPNs can be issued by either our Community Protection Officers or Kingdom Local Authority Support Environmental Enforcement Officers, who work alongside our officers and are easily identifiable in a green uniform.
You can be issued a FPN for dog fouling, fly tipping, littering, breaching a public space protection order (PSPO) and failure to comply with a waste notice.
Litter can be:
- cigarette butts
- chewing gum
- food wrappers
- bags of rubbish fly tipped on the street
- spitting
Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) must be paid within the time stated on the notice to avoid prosecution.
How to pay a FPN
The amount that you have to pay is written on your FPN.
If your Fixed Penalty Notice was issued by Kingdom Local Authority Support Environmental Enforcement Officers and starts with Ref No: followed by a nine‑digit number, you can pay your FPN on the Crawley page of the Kingdom Local Authority Support payment website.
If your Fixed Penalty Notice was issued by our Community Protection Officers and starts with FPN followed by a six digit number you can make a payment:
- via credit or debit card by telephoning 01293 438000
- In person at the Town Hall self-pay kiosks by cash, debit or credit card (Town Hall, The Boulevard RH10 1UZ)
Please quote the Fixed Penalty Notice number when making the payment.
Disputing an FPN
If you think your FPN has been wrongly issued, whilst there is no legal right of appeal to a Fixed Penalty Notice, you can query an FPN in the form of a representation.
Representations will not be considered on the basis that:
- you did not know the law
- you did not know the law was being enforced
- it was the first time you committed the offence
- you have always done this and never received a penalty or warning before
- you believe the officer issuing the FPN was rude or did not behave appropriately
You cannot make a representation based on the behaviour of the Community Protection Officer or the Kingdom Local Authority Support Environmental Enforcement Officer. If you wish to make a complaint about the conduct or behaviour of an officer:
- visit our complaints webpage to make a complaint if your Fixed Penalty Notice was issued by our Community Protection Officers. Your Fixed Penalty Notice will start with FPN followed by a six digit number
- email at crawley.council@lasupport.co.uk if your Fixed Penalty Notice was issued by Kingdom Local Authority Support Environmental Enforcement Officers. Your Fixed Penalty Notice will start with Ref No: followed by a nine digit number
Any complaints will be processed separately to the FPN representation. You are still liable to prosecution if you do not pay the FPN on time.
The Fixed Penalty Notice has been issued to give you an opportunity to avoid prosecution in court. If you do not take up this opportunity, then you could be summonsed to appear in Court. If you are found guilty of the offence, then the Magistrates Court could give you a higher penalty plus you may need to pay additional costs. The committed offence is written on the FPN
Littering offences relate to dropping litter and then walking away so even if you pick up your litter after being approached, you have still committed the offence and will receive a FPN.
We’re not required to place signs in every street, road, highway or open space or park to inform people about not dropping litter. Even without a sign this does not excuse someone from acting in an antisocial manner and you have still committed an offence.
As with signage, it isn’t possible to place litter bins in every street in the town, although we do try to place bins where they are most needed. Where bins are not available, it is up to everyone to act responsibly and make arrangements to either take their litter home or carry it until a litter bin is available.
You are responsible for ensuring you stub the cigarette out properly on the stubbing plate provided or on the floor before being put it inside the bin. Cigarette waste is the same as any other waste.
Yes because the littering offence has still been committed even if litter is not visible.
Fixed Penalty Notice amounts vary depending on the type of offence committed. Amounts maybe reduced for early payments.
- fly tipping FPN £1000
- littering FPN £150
- dog fouling FPN £50
- Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) breach £100
- failure to produce waste documents FPN £500
We do not accept payments by instalments. However, each case is considered on its own merit.
Failure to pay the FPN may result in prosecution. If convicted, you may receive a much larger fine and a criminal record.
No there are no formal grounds of appeal against a Fixed Penalty Notice. This is because a Fixed Penalty Notice is an opportunity for you to effectively discharge your liability to prosecution. In essence this means that if you agree that an offence has been committed by you, then by paying the sum of money specified no further action in the form of prosecution for the offence can be undertaken.
No, Community Protection Officers and Kingdom Local Authority support officers cannot accept any form of payment. There are a number of ways you can choose to pay the fine, which can be found on the FPN.