Thousands of motorists who litter Britain's roads every day are escaping penalty because of a bureaucratic blunder.

An extension of powers to help local councils to track down and fine motorists who throw rubbish from their vehicles has been put on hold after the changes in legislation needed were made to the wrong law.

A trial in London, which would have paved the way for a national policy, has been abandoned as a result. It would have enabled local councils to use evidence collected from closed-circuit television footage and by traffic wardens to fine littering motorists.

But changes to the Environmental Protection Act, which were required to give councils extra powers, were made to an outdated version of the legislation and so the Bill could not pass through Parliament.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said yesterday that, as a result, a loophole remained open and motorists could drop litter with impunity.

Local authorities blame motorists for a significant portion of the 25 million tonnes of rubbish that is collected in Britain each year.

Bill Bryson, the author, who is president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said that it was outrageous that motorists could get away with throwing rubbish out of their windows. “It's a very big part of the problem: people eating as they drive, rolling down the window and throwing stuff out.”

He said that there were two means of tackling the problem: “You either have to persuade them not to do it or you punish them until they stop doing it. But this country is not doing a very good job of either of them.”

Paul Bettison, chairman of the LGA's environment board, said: “Simple changes to the existing law would close the loopholes currently causing such confusion and inconsistency.”

Local authorities spend up to £600million each year clearing up litter. Westminster City Council clears up 20,000 tonnes of street litter a year.

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