Together, we make a difference - Environmental Enforcement Team

Our Environmental Enforcement team may be one of the council’s most visible, as the officers work to combat anti-social behaviour, issuing fixed penalty notices for activities such as littering, flytipping, graffiti, flyposting and dog fouling offences on the streets of Epsom & Ewell. 

However, their roles involve much more than simply issuing fines. They play a vital part in keeping the community clean and safe for everyone; and work collaboratively with many departments and partner agencies to do that.

Other responsibilities include:

• moving people who are begging on, conducting initial welfare checks for any people they encounter who do not have a place to live, and liasing with the East Surrey Outreach Service and the council’s Housing Team
• patrolling the borough and reporting any suspected criminal activity to Surrey Police
• assisting the Environmental Health Team and Countryside Team with visits to illegal encampments
• working to remove abandoned vehicles
• engaging and educating residents and businesses in how best to avoid committing an environmental offence
• preparing cases for prosecution.

We spoke to one of our Environmental Enforcement Officers, Richard, and his supervisor, Sarah, to find out more.

Richard has previously worked for three other councils, and says Epsom & Ewell is the safest and cleanest area he’s worked in.

Sarah worked in the private sector for over 15 years and was looking for a new challenge and to further her career with a local authority. She adds:

“I’m making a difference to the community through education, engagement and cleaning up the environment.”

Sharing her stories of working in the borough, Sarah said:

“While patrolling with my colleague in Epsom Town Centre, a very upset lady approached us and informed us that she had lost her son who had learning difficulties. We asked her for his description and put a message out on the radio to the Ashley Centre security team to let them know. I stayed with the mum and tried to calm her down and give her reassurance, while my colleague went looking for her son. Ten minutes later, my colleague returned with her son who she found in WHSmith. The mother was very thankful.

“On another occasion, while following our abandoned vehicle process, it was brought to our attention that the vehicles we were monitoring had been cloned. The true vehicle owners were not Epsom residents and were living in other boroughs using the real vehicles. Reports were made to the police.

“Then there was a time that my colleagues were patrolling the streets, they heard a message over the radio that shoplifters were running away from undercover security on the railway line from Epsom train station. My colleagues knew the only exit from the direction in which they were running. They quickly made their way there and managed to stop one of the shoplifters. The undercover security caught up and the police were called. The shoplifter was arrested.”

Richard also recalled a particularly memorable encounter from last autumn, saying:

“I stopped a drunk moped rider from riding off after littering a can of beer onto the floor. As I started my fixed penalty notice procedure, it was clear from the man’s response, demeanour and smell that he was under the influence of alcohol. When he tried to leave on his moped, we managed to block his exit until the police arrived. They breathalysed him on the spot and found him to be three times over the alcohol limit. The moped was then immediately detained, thanks to team work.”