Drivers who let litter be thrown from their cars will face automatic fines of £60 even if they are not personally responsible, The Telegraph can disclose.

English councils will be given the legal power to punish car owners in a major shake-up of Britain’s litter laws to be unveiled within weeks.

Ministers have grown infuriated by how hard it is to prosecute drivers who dump litter on Britain’s roads because they cannot easily be identified.

Drivers who are not responsible will either have to convince the guilty party to own up or cover the cost of the fine themselves.

Failure to pay within a month could see the fine tripled, with some London boroughs already with the power charging £200 for late fines.

The change will be announced in the Government's litter strategy, which represents the biggest shake-up for a generation and has been leaked to this newspaper.