Cannock smokers face £75 litter fine

Smokers who throw cigarette butts on the ground in a Staffordshire town are being hit with £75 fines in a new blitz.

Cannock Chase District Council said it was getting tough on smokers and was prepared to pursue non-payment of the penalities through the courts.

Officers will also be stepping up their patrols in the area.

Some 80 per cent of fines handed out in the district for litter offences in the past two months have involved the discarding of cigarette ends. In April and May, officers dished out 35 on-the-spot notices, with 28 of them involving spent cigarettes.

Environment boss Councillor Janos Toth said: "Many smokers think that cigarette ends are not really litter and can be discarded anywhere they please.

"The truth is that they take up to two years to biodegrade, not to mention the impact that this littering has on our town centres."

The local authority is renewing its efforts to reduce the blight of litter. All students aged 11 to 17 have had a presentation from council staff on the impact of it. As well as extra patrols, new signs and posters have gone up in prominent public places.

A fixed penalty notice for littering is £75, reduced to £50 if paid within 10 days. Failure to pay will result in a prosecution at magistrates court for the littering offence, where the maximum fine is £2,500.

By Marion Brennan