Teen to pay £600 for food wrapper drop

A TEENAGER has been ordered to pay almost £600 after she was caught throwing a fastfood wrapper from a car close to a West Wales beauty spot.

The incident happened at Llansteffan beach, eight miles south of Carmarthen. Alysha Louise Herrington, 18, of Nant Wen in Llanelli, was visiting the area with friends when she threw fast-food packaging to the ground from the passenger window of a car.

A man parked nearby witnessed the littering, took a picture of the incident and the vehicle involved on his phone, and contacted Carmarthenshire Council.

The council was then able to trace the vehicle, which led to a penalty notice being sent to Miss Herrington, who was not the owner of the car.

The case against the 18-yearold was heard at Llanelli Magistrates Court earlier this month after she refused to pay the fixed penalty notice issued by the council.

She did not enter a plea and was found guilty in her absence.

Miss Herrington was fined £330 and ordered to pay costs of £234.32 and a victim surcharge of £33, meaning that her littering, on the evening of Saturday, May 5, this year, cost her a total of £597.32.

Councillor Philip Hughes, executive board member for public protection at Carmarthenshire Council, said: “This is another example of the council refusing to tolerate littering anywhere in Carmarthenshire.

“Littering isn’t just lazy and irresponsible - it also ruins other people’s enjoyment of our communities and beauty spots and can have devastating effects on our wildlife.

“There really is no excuse for it.

“There are plenty of bins across the county, so I’d urge people to use them because we will prosecute when there’s sufficient evidence of littering offences.

“Bins are emptied as often as possible, but if they’re full then I’d remind people to take their rubbish home with them.”

A spokeswoman for Carmarthenshire Council said the authority was committed to prosecuting those who were caught littering, and asked anyone who witnessed such behaviour to report it.