Smokers fined £440 each for dropping cigarette butts in Brighton

Brighton Magistrates found the trio guilty of dropping litter on the streets of Brighton and Hove when the case came to court on January 4 after they failed to pay a £75 fine that was issued at the time.

Littering is contrary to Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act and a criminal offence.

Stacey Ransom, Muhammad Noorani and Michael Conn were each ordered to pay a fine of £440, plus £450 costs and a £44 victim surcharge.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesperson said all three offences related to cigarette litter which is ‘one of the most common causes of street litter’.

These were the first cases taken to court following the start of a new enforcement contract last year which aims to support the council’s work to improve the environment and reduce waste clean-up costs by tackling littering.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, chair of the city’s environment committee, said: “The council is taking all kinds of littering extremely seriously.

“Taking someone to court is a last resort but anyone ignoring a fixed penalty notice (FPN) leaves themselves at risk of prosecution which could result in a hefty bill and a criminal record.”

The defendants also had the opportunity to plead guilty by post which would have resulted in a less severe penalty.

All the offences occurred in the summer of 2016.

The council added that in the two months leading up to October 2016, 27 fixed penalty notices were issued for flytipping, compared to eight in the first eight weeks of operation and 65 for commercial waste offences. The local authority is set to use its share of the fixed penalty notice income to pay for a pilot using CCTV cameras to deter flytipping.