Spotted making no attempt to pick up dropped cigarette butt
A smoker who dropped a cigarette butt outside Shepherd's Bush tube station has found out cigarettes are bad for your wallet as well as your health after being fined £200.
Keith Collins, 32, failed to appear at Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, January 27 where he was convicted of littering on June 20, 2014.
The court was told Mr Collins was spotted by a council enforcement officer dropping the butt and making no attempt to pick it up. He was issued with an £80 fixed penalty notice, but failed to make the payment.
Mr Collins, of Atholl House, Maida Vale, was fined £80 and ordered to pay £120 in costs and surcharge.
" The council takes littering very seriously, whether it’s the dumping of large household waste items or something small like a cigarette but, it will not be tolerated.
"Cigarette butts might be small, but they can take up to 12 years to biodegrade, so it is important they are disposed of responsibly and the council provides refuse facilities for this.
" Ignoring them can prove very costly and this will no doubt be the most expensive cigarette Mr Collins has ever smoked," says Cllr Wesley Harcourt, H&F Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Residents Services.
Keep Britain Tidy’s 2012/2013 Local Environmental Quality Survey revealed that smokers' materials – cigarettes, cigarette butts, cigars, matchsticks, matchboxes, wrappers, cigarette papers and disposable lighters – were found in 82% of surveyed sites, with 56% being found in retail areas.
The research also found many smokers didn’t consider dropping their butts as "littering".