HUNDREDS of warning letters have gone out to streets in York in only three months, as part of a tough clampdown on misplaced rubbish.

Council officers have been rifling through bin bags warning persistent offenders they could face a £100 fine if they do not put their rubbish out at the proper time.

City of York Council has introduced tough new controls to stamp out the problem of people leaving their refuse out too early or dumping it where it does not belong, known as fly-tipping.

In three months, 226 warning letters have been sent to streets in York where residents have been putting their bags out too early, including Wellington Street, Prospect Terrace and School Lane in Fulford.

And council officers have carried out their threat to look through bin bags to find the addresses of persistent offenders, with 22 formal statutory notices handed out between February and mid-May.

Within the three months, 61 investigations have also been carried out for fly-tipping, with five warning letters sent out and four possible prosecutions to properties in Bad Bargain Lane, Tang Hall and Lord Mayor's Walk.

Coun Andrew Waller, the council's executive member for neighbourhood services, said some residents had been known to put their bin bags out as much as six days too early.

"It's been a perennial problem in some patches," he said. "Making people aware of the problem that it causes when the bags get splayed and litter gets everywhere has resulted in a 96 per cent reduction.

"What we recognised is that if we were going to say we were going to take enforcement action, we had to be able to deliver that.

"It's a constant battle. Every city has these sorts of problems, but if you compare York with other places in the country, we're doing well."

The council has a three-stage policy for dealing with rubbish problems.

Firstly, warning letters are sent out to streets where refuse issues have been spotted, either by local residents or council officers.

If the difficulties continue, specific offenders are targeted with a statutory notice.

That means enforcement officers must look through bin bags to find any clue's such as discarded letters, which will tell them where offenders live.

Persistent culprits could also face a fixed penalty notice of £100 if they continue to disobey rules on putting out rubbish, but so far no fines have been given out.

The enforcement scheme covers narrow terraced streets where black bags are collected rather than wheelie bins. Information on how it has been implemented so far is in a report to be debated by councillors on Thursday.