LITTER louts who chuck rubbish from their cars should face steeper fines and even be forced to complete community service, Adver readers say.

The comments follow the announcement of new council powers to slap £150 fines on the owners of vehicles from whose windows litter is thrown.

Swindon Borough Council say that they plan to use the powers, which come into force on Sunday, to crack down on litter louts.

Spokesman Kevin Burchall told the Swindon Advertiser this week said it added “another string to our bow in tackling this blight on our environment” – complementing existing plans to increase the fines for “general littering” from £100 to £150.

“When we have the evidence we will track down the owner of the vehicle and those that drop litter should be aware that it is a criminal offence and you could receive a fine or a criminal record if it leads to a prosecution,” he added.

Adver readers have largely welcomed the increase in fines – although some have questions how it could be enforced and others have called for the penalties to be strengthened.

Writing on Facebook, Colin Crowther said: “The amount of litter chucked out of car windows is a disgrace. I’d give the lazy, selfish idiots a £1,000 fine AND give them the job of cleaning up the verges and areas around roundabouts and junctions.”

Meanwhile, Rob Derry wrote: “It doesn’t matter what the penalty is. Same as the dog poo issue – you’ve got to catch people first. You can increase the penalty to whatever you want, but without policing no one is going to get caught.”

Martha Jheeta added: “School kids should be educated too. Forever dropping litter to and from school.”

Litter has long been a gripe for Swindon residents. Earlier this year, Caroline Inskip told the Adver that she “welcomed” the snow.

“It will hide the disgraceful amount of litter strewn around the streets of Swindon,” she said. “Who is it that nonchalantly creates this abominable mess? If a stranger walked up to you and shoved an empty coke can into your bag or pocket you’d be incensed. That’s just how incensed we should be about the same coke can dropped into the gutter, thrown into a hedge, dumped on a pavement in our town.”

Fellow letter writer Chris Gleed told us that he had been disappointed to return from a “clean” Isle of Man to see litter-strewn motorways in the UK.

“Arriving back in England we realised that the ‘dream’ had ended,” he said. “Strewn alongside the motorways and A roads were old shoes, children’s nappies, various types of underwear that seemed to be wrapped around old windscreen wipers and a huge amount of fast food trays.”

Anti-litter charity Keep Britain Tidy have campaigned for higher fines for roadside litter louts.

Launching their “Don’t be a Tosser” campaign this week, deputy chief executive Richard McIlwain said: “Our roads and motorways are heavily littered thanks to the actions of a few selfish motorists who think its ok to throw litter from their car. It costs millions to clean up and harms our native wildlife. “