YORK residents could be hit with a £100 fine if they put their bin bags out early.

New powers to issue the on-the-spot charge could be given to the council's litter-busting street environment officers, in a drive to minimise the amount of rubbish on the city's streets.

"People can put their bin bags out the night before the collection, but leaving rubbish out for longer than that is just not acceptable," said environment boss Councillor Andrew Waller.

He said rubbish left out for days created an eyesore that could attract cats and other domestic animals that might rip open the bags and spill litter on to the streets.

"To have this sort of rubbish lying around the place is simply not acceptable in the 21st century, £100 will be an active deterrent," he said.

The bin bag fines follow the implementation of £50 littering fines which Coun Waller said were proving effective.

But shadow environment spokesman Councillor David Horton said: "I think £100 fines are a bit pie-in-the-sky really,"

Councillor Paul Blanchard also expressed concerns about the proposed fines.

"To randomly target people, who may be old or infirm, with hefty fines would clearly be unacceptable," he said.

"If the council is negligent or incompetent about letting people know when they should leave rubbish out - especially those without wheelie bins who have to put their bin bags in the street - it could be a cataclysmic failure," said Coun Blanchard.

Left-out rubbish is a particular problem in the Leeman Road and The Groves areas of the city, according to Coun Waller. These areas are among those containing streets too narrow for wheelie bins to be used because of access problems for bin wagons. David Sinclair, who lives on Vyner Street in The Groves, complained to the council last month after rubbish went uncollected for two weeks.

"The fines are a bit heavy-handed. Can we expect £100 compensation when the council fails to collect our bin bags?" he said.

But according to the council's annual survey, 91 per cent of respondents were satisfied with the standards of household waste collection in the city, compared with 78 per cent last year.

The introduction of the York Pride hotline with its computerised database has enabled councillors to pinpoint hotspots for all sorts of environmental issues in York, including rubbish collection.

A report by Audit Commission inspectors praised the role of street environment officers in improving the cleanliness of York's streets.

"They made suggestions on where improvements can be made, which we shall be examining," said Coun Waller.

However, the council will be objecting to government proposals which could leave it thousands of pounds down on budget.

Assuming exclusive control of the dog warden scheme, for example, would create a shortfall of £30,000 to £40,000.

"If they expect us to take on more responsibility, we should be getting the resources to help us do that," said Coun Waller.

Updated: 10:34 Thursday, September 02, 2004