Half of the yobs who were handed on-the-spot fines in a pilot scheme failed to pay up within the 21-day deadline, a Home Office study has revealed. The report showed just 51% of fines were paid for offences such as being drunk and disorderly or harassment.
In all, 6,043 fines were issued in the pilot areas - Essex, West Midlands and parts of North Wales and London - during the year from August 2002.
"On the whole the project has been a success," the report added.
The trial also showed that issuing each fine saved police time when compared with the workload required to prepare a court case.
The report on the year-long trial of fixed penalty notices - which have since been introduced nationwide - estimated the overall payment rate was nearly 70% after non-payers were taken to court.
The majority of fines - 86% - were handed to men, including 12% to 18 to 20-year-olds, about a third to those aged 21 to 24, a third to those aged 25 to 34 and a quarter to over-35s.
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