Litter and street cleansing

Litter blights an area and needs to be dealt with in a variety of ways, so the council and local communities need to work with each other. Litter of any kind is an offence, including dropping cigarette butts or leaving litter next to full bins. You could get a £100 on the spot fine.

Although most people don’t drop litter, there are still a lot of people who leave things on our streets and beaches which can quickly accumulate. Working with our residents is important to keep our coastal towns clean and welcoming.

How Thanet District Council tackles litter

• We provide and empty over 700 litter bins including over 40 recycling bins across the district. In the summer months we have additional bins in busy locations and along the promenades.
• We have a dedicated team of street cleansing staff who work 7 days a week between
• Additional seasonal street cleansing staff are taken on over the summer months.
• Monthly inspections are carried out to monitor standards.
• High footfall areas such as town centres are swept daily and our mechanical sweepers are out frequently in all other areas.
• We prioritise reports of increased litter in public areas and aim to deal with these as quickly as possible.
• We are constantly reviewing and looking at ways to improve the level of service that we provide.

How you can help

• Ensure that your waste and recycling is securely contained when putting it out for collection. Do not leave bags at the side of your bin.
• If you smoke ensure you dispose of the ends in a bin.
• When out and about put your rubbish in the litter bins provided, if the bins are full take your rubbish home.
• Take part in a litter pick – find out more here.
• Do a 2 minute beach clean whenever you visit one of our beaches or bays.  Equipment is provided at 15 beaches across Thanet from Minnis Bay to Ramsgate Main Sands – they are all mapped on the 2 minute beach clean website or you can join an organised beach litter pick – find out more here.

You can read more about our Street Cleansing Standards here.

Report an issue online

• Problems with litter bins
• Dog fouling
• Fly-tipping
• Graffiti
• Potholes, street lightning, drainage and overgrown vegetation (Kent County Council)