18. — (1) Where it appears to a local authority that—

(a) measures are required to be taken in order to prevent or limit the creation of litter in a public place or in a place that is visible from a public place caused, or likely to be caused, by the holding of an event or series of events at which large numbers of persons are likely to be present,

(b) in the absence of steps being taken or operations being carried out by the local authority under this subsection, the creation of the litter will not be prevented or limited, and

(c) due to the timing of the event or series of events, it is not practicable for the local authority to exercise its powers under section 17 in relation to the event or series of events,

the local authority may take such steps or carry out such operations as it considers necessary to prevent or limit the creation of the litter.

(2) Where a local authority takes steps or carries out operations under subsection (1), it may recover the reasonable costs of such steps or operations as a simple contract debt in a court of competent jurisdiction from such person as the local authority satisfies the court is a person whose promotion of the event or series of events, as the case may be, necessitated such steps or operations.