Council crackdown on cigarette butts

The council has launched a campaign to crackdown on cigarette butts

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Worthing Borough Council has launched a new campaign to reduce the number of cigarette butts littering the town's streets and pavements.

They will be on the streets on Wednesday (August 3) targeting smokers and issuing “yellow cards” to anybody caught dumping their fag butts anywhere other than the bins provided.

If this doesn’t work, they will begin issuing £75 pound on-the-spot fines.

During recent surveys, several hundred cigarette ends were found in the central Worthing shopping streets.

This kind of litter has a significant impact on the cleansing teams who have to deal with them on a daily basis.

Councillor Clive Roberts, Worthing Borough Council Executive Member for the Environment, said: “Ten years on from the smoking ban in workplaces, restaurants, cafes and pubs there is of course a significant amount of smoking outside on our pavements.

“This is something smokers and non smokers have had to get used to but not to the unacceptable amount of cigarette butts and other smoking related paraphernalia littering our streets.”

The educational event will also see the council’s team be on hand to discuss the implications of this type of littering and the effects it has on the town.

Mr Roberts added: “Many people do not realise cigarette butts are litter and the council want to remind everyone - so ideally the problem goes away.

“The 2006 Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse has clarified, in no uncertain terms, that dropping cigarette butts on the street is littering and this in turn is an offence.”

The new bins issued by the council are fitted with a stubber plate so that cigarette butts can be extinguished before being disposed of - but smokers must make sure they can’t then blow away.

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