£500k in fines coughed up for cig butts

SMOKERS dropping cigarette butts on the streets of Birmingham have had to cough up nearly £500,000 in fines in just one year.

New figures have revealed 98 per cent of fixed penalty notices issued by enforcement officers were issued to people throwing cigarette ends to the floor.

In total 6,306 fines of £80 each were dished out to litter louts between April 2016 and March 2017. It meant Birmingham City Council raked in £504,480, with £494,390 coming from people dropping cigarettes.

A report to the council’s public protection committee said: “The number of incidences of Fixed Penalty Notices being issued reflects the fact there is still a problem with littering on our streets.

“One of the difficulties in resolving the problem of cigarette waste being deposited on the street is that the perception of many smokers is that cigarette waste is not litter.

“A change in the culture and perceptions of these smokers is critical to resolving this problem.”

There has been a huge increase in the number of fixed penalties since the first tickets in 2004.

In the first year, just 382 fines were issued across the city.