Waltham Forest Council’s outsourced waste enforcement contractor 3GS has come under fire after issuing incorrect fines and overstepping its authority on a number of occasions, reports Marco Marcelline

Photo by noe fornells on Unsplash

Residents, visitors and small business owners across Waltham Forest say they are being wrongly fined and left intimidated after “aggressive” encounters with the council’s outsourced waste enforcement contractor 3GS (National Enforcement Solutions).

Some have told the Echo their experiences have left them hesitant to put out their own rubbish or welcome visitors to the borough.

In February, a French visitor attending a music festival at Walthamstow Trades Hall was stopped in Hoe Street and issued a £100 fine for holding an open can of beer.

Festival organiser Charlie Woolley said the woman was “aggressively” approached by two 3GS officers who demanded her ID before explaining why she had been stopped.

Although the area is covered by a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) restricting street drinking, the order requires officers to first issue a warning and give the person an opportunity to surrender the drink. Charlie says no such warning was given.

Attempts to challenge the fine on her behalf led to what he describes as “an incredibly opaque” process: a non‑functional phone number, and an email address that offered no clear appeals route.

Anyone who has received a fixed penalty notice (FPN) by contractors such as 3GS cannot formally appeal it; instead any challenges must be informally shared via email up to 14 days after an FPN has been issued.

Following a response from 3GS insisting that there were “no formal grounds for appeal”, Charlie contacted the council, the police, and Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy’s office.

An email seen by the Echo from council deputy leader Clyde Loakes confirms the fine had been issued incorrectly, with Cllr Loakes saying the officer had “failed to understand the conditions of the PSPO”.

Charlie says the case raises wider concerns about the council’s due diligence in monitoring their contractors’ behaviour, adding: “3GS are acting with impunity on the streets of Waltham Forest. Officers with little to no training are handing out fines to which there is little recourse.”

He has since requested the bodycam footage under the Data Protection Act. Meanwhile, a new business in St James Street said they had been “harassed” and threatened with prosecution despite using council‑authorised waste bags to dispose of their rubbish.

The business owner, who asked to stay anonymous, said she and her business partner received multiple letters from National Enforcement Solutions (NES) accusing them of flytipping, even after providing evidence of a valid waste transfer notice. One case was closed in December, only for threatening letters about a new alleged offence to arrive weeks later.

She described seeing enforcement officers leaf through bags at 1am outside her business in order to find letters with addresses on them. At one point the situation had left the pair at “their wits’ end”, she said.

The entrepreneur continued: “We pay a considerable amount for authorised collections by [business waste management company] First Mile, yet we were being threatened with criminal prosecution for using the service exactly as instructed.”

In one instance, NES claimed the waste had been left out on a “no collection day”, despite the business having daily collections arranged with First Mile. In another, they alleged the waste was in a black bin bag – but provided no photographic evidence.

While both fines they received were eventually dropped when the pair reprovided proof of a waste transfer notice, the experience had left them questioning whether they can continue operating in the borough.

They said: “We live here, we work here, and we report flytipping regularly. But we were being targeted for doing everything by the book.”

Leigh Wraith, who moved to Leytonstone in January, says she followed instructions from the local library about when to put out household waste. She had placed bags out on a Sunday night for a Monday morning collection ‑ a practice the library had confirmed was acceptable.

But days later, Leigh received a letter from 3GS containing photos of a split bin bag and an Amazon parcel with her address. The letter did not specify the alleged offence, only that she had seven days to respond.

Leigh Wraith and her partner Iain

Despite explaining that she was new to the area and had followed council guidance, Leigh was issued a £550 fixed penalty notice, with 3GS warning the amount could rise to £8,000 – a figure later admitted to be incorrectly inflated from £800.

A council library staff member, who reviewed the photos, reportedly told Leigh that “3GS are known for fining people for things that would not be an issue”, adding that residents are allowed to leave bags out overnight for morning collections, and that the split bag may have been caused by foxes and should not have resulted in a fine.

Leigh says the experience has been “intimidatory”, adding: “They couldn’t even tell me what the rules were, yet they were enforcing them. It feels like a trap.”

These cases mirror a story the Echo reported last year, when Leyton resident Daniel Dixon was fined £300 after 3GS officers reconstructed a torn book parcel found in a public bin to identify him.

Daniel said he had “no idea” that discarding a cardboard wrapper in a public bin could be considered fly‑tipping.

Footage from the incident showed contractors rifling through rubbish next to a large fly‑tip of furniture and household waste. Daniel described the fine as “outrageous”.

At the time, Cllr Loakes defended the practice as part of routine evidence‑gathering at fly‑tipping hotspots.

Across all the cases, residents and businesses described no clear appeals process, non-functional phone numbers, contradictory explanations, escalating threats of prosecution, presumption of guilt, and fines issued even when council guidance was followed.

Those affected are calling for the council to urgently review its contract with 3GS/NES, citing concerns about training, accountability, and the financial pressure placed on residents.

Charlie says the issue goes beyond individual mistakes, stating: “This is a systemic problem. People are being fined first and asked questions later ‑ if at all.”

The St James Street business owner adds: “They should be tackling people dumping mattresses in alleyways, not businesses trying to follow the rules.”

Cllr Loakes said: “Cleaning our streets and clearing fly-tips is one of our top priorities. It costs the council more than £7m per year to clear litter and fly-tips. Our residents expect enforcement officers and contractors to take the necessary action to protect our shared environment – including through extensive evidence checks.

“However, we recognise that enforcement can feel stressful for those involved and that officers may not always get it right. That is why we give residents every opportunity to appeal fines, as well as viewing mistakes as learning opportunities to strengthen officer training and improve the service.”

Have you had a similar experience with 3GS/NES? Get in touch: wfecho@socialspider.com

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