Community patrol officers costing council tax payers in Aldershot and Farnborough £300,000 a year have issued just eight tickets for environmental crimes in the last two months.

The number of on-the-spot fines issued was revealed during a report on the performance of the community wardens in Rushmoor last week.

There are seven community patrol officers (CPOs) covering Aldershot and Farnborough, paid for out of council tax payers’ cash.

As well as issuing fines for environmental crimes such as littering and dog fouling, the officers reported 23 pieces of graffiti and 37 “additional items” over the past two months.

The team has also reported 161 abandoned cars this year, including 28 during October, as well as reporting 64 incidents of illegal fly-tipping in the last month.

The team’s performance was criticised by some members of Rushmoor’s environment committee.

Martin Tennant, a Tory ward member for Cove and Southwood, praised the changes made to make the patrols more visible to the public, but said he was “gobsmacked” by the report.

He said that given the cost of the service to the council, there should be more information about what the community patrol team had done to make the towns safer.

“I am really disappointed,” Cllr Tennant said. “You guys may be working really hard behind the scenes but I am frustrated that within the whole of Rushmoor you have only managed to fine just eight people in two months. It seems like we are wasting our money, is my honest opinion.”

For more on this story, see the Aldershot News and Farnborough News out on Friday November 21.