Conwy council look set to renew the contract of controversial enforcement company Kingdom for another year.

A report will be presented to the Conwy County Borough Council (CCBC) economy and place scrutiny committee next Wednesday with a recommendation the current environmental enforcement contract with Kingdom be extended for one year from August 10, 2018.

The Pioneer reported on June 13 that council were considering the option of bringing enforcement in-house and giving the role of enforcement to parking inspectors.

However the report said: "There are alternatives to extending the Kingdom contract, for example taking this service in house.

"This would require significant extra expenditure for staff, management, equipment, IT etc. in the order of £260-£300k. Other options would include service remodelling with other departments, retendering or looking at regional service delivery options.

"Any of these options would require extensive work to fully scope and cost, and would certainly not be ready to implement from August 10, 2018."

However, CCBC are set to increase fixed penalty notice (FPN) amounts for littering from £75 to £125 and FPNs for dogs not on leads and dogs in exclusion zone offences up to £100.

The report said these new increases are expected to bring in £200,000 which would be used for core enforcement costs.

Kingdom have received heavy criticism from groups within the county, including Facebook page North Wales against Kingdom Security who have now amassed more than 100,000 followers.

Their tactics have been described as “threatening” and “a form of bullying” by former Llandudno mayor Carol Marubbi who held a number of protests against the enforcement company in 2017.

Creator of the group North Wales against Kingdom Security, Peter Rourke, has been fighting to see the back of the company for many months.

He recently posted on the groups page saying Kingdom had been working illegally and is in the process of meeting with solicitors to see what the next step is with the matter and how to remove them from the county.

Thousands of members have reported being targeted and threatened by officers, although the report said Kingdom have not been "heavy handed".

The report said: "There have been complaints and claims that enforcement is being undertaken in an inappropriate manner. This is not the case.

"Enforcement is not carried out in a heavy handed manner, nor as a means to raise local authority revenue. It is not targeted at individual groups or individuals.

"Rather, it is carried out in a reasonable and proportionate manner, littering and dog fouling being ubiquitous where there are people."

Kingdom have spoken to the Pioneer in the past and said the company was only operating according to the direction of the county councils.

A spokesperson said: “Kingdom is engaged to help councils in their efforts to reduce littering and to help create a cleaner and greener environment.

“Kingdom helps with this primarily by deterring people from dropping litte, and last year carried out in the region of 600,000 hours of patrol time.

“Our efforts in North Wales, for example, have helped create some of the cleanest streets in Wales as reported by Keep Wales Tidy."

The meeting will take place at CCBC's Bodlondeb offices next Wednesday at 5.30pm.