Groningen city council plans to get tough on youngsters who throw sweet papers on the ground by making them clean the streets rather than pay a fine.

The council is to increase patrols by street wardens on what it calls snoeproutes (sweet routes) – areas between schools and shops where pupils are mainly responsible for the rubbish.
Last year, Groningen street wardens handed out 140 fines of up to €120 for littering. In the case of young teenagers, parents usually pay the fine, the council said in a statement.
Now, however, teenagers are to be ‘confronted by their behaviour’ through a visit to Bureau Halt, a justice ministry initiative to combat juvenile crime. There they will be given an alternative punishment which fits the crime – cleaning the streets, the council says.
The city council says it cleans up some 2.3 million kilos of street litter every year.
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