People posing as litter wardens are issuing fines on unsuspecting members of the public, it has been claimed.

Councillors expressed concern over hotspot littering areas and reported ‘copycat’ enforcement officers in Weymouth town in a report on the scheme’s progress.

Graham Duggan, head of community protection at Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said that there is still ‘work to be done’ despite the streets looking ‘significantly cleaner’.

Private firm 3GS took on responsibility for handing out fines in February this year. It involves uniformed officers patrolling the streets and handing out fines for littering and anti-social behaviour issues.

The arrangement does not cost the borough council anything, but the firm retain income from the fines which pay to keep the scheme going.

A ‘very concerning’ issue was raised by councillors who have seen complaints on social media that members of the public were portraying themselves as 3GS officers and handing out on the spot fines.

Cllr Tia Roos said she had also heard of reports that some people identifying themselves as officers have been targeting women.

A representative from 3GS spoke out at the meeting of WPBC’s scrutiny and performance committee, to urge people that they take claims like this ‘very seriously’. He also said that the firm do not demand money on the spot or target a certain gender, and will always show an ID card. Mr Duggan said that 38 per cent of fines handed out during the recorded period were given to women.

Another issue concerning councillors is the problem of dog fouling and littering hotspots. Of 306 fines handed out before May 28, only four were for dog fouling.

Mr Duggan said: “It is a difficult activity to catch. For an owner to allow their dog to foul and not clear it up, it is usually done out of sight.” He said that shift patterns have been changed to allow officers to patrol early in the morning, and later at night once people have finished work in attempts to catch potential offenders.

Head of the committee, Cllr Andy Blackwood, said that school shops remained notorious littering hotspots, and suggested that officers should visit schools to make sure pupils and parents know that ‘Weymouth is a litter-free zone’. 3GS said they would not fine under 18s but they would get a ‘strong word’ if they were caught.

Mr Duggan said that visitors will be alerted to the town’s anti-litter scheme ahead of the summer season.

He said: “There will be additional signage going into our car parks and in the town centre and railway station to warn and inform people who are visitors to the borough, that we do take an active approach towards enforcing legislation.

“We want people to be aware that if they do drop litter they will get a fixed penalty notice.”