Cigarette litter campaign in Carmarthen
A campaign against smoking-related litter has helped clean up Carmarthen.
Carmarthenshire County Council, supported by Tidy Towns, is encouraging people to put their cigarette ends in the bin instead of littering the streets.
They want to raise awareness of this type of litter which not only looks unsightly but is also very difficult and expensive to clean up as the ends fall into grates and cracks in the pavement which makes them almost impossible to remove by normal cleaning.
Discarded cigarette ends make up the largest proportion of litter in Carmarthenshire with visible evidence of smoking-related litter found on 83 per cent of the streets inspected by Keep Wales Tidy.
Council officers were in Carmarthen town centre giving out free pocket ashtrays and to warn people that if they are caught dropping a cigarette end in public they could be fined £75 or more if prosecuted in court.
The council’s environmental enforcement officers regularly carry out patrols across the county. They can issue fixed penalty notices of £75 for littering. People can also be prosecuted in the magistrates court where the maximum fine is £2,500.
Director of technical services Richard Workman said: We don't want to fine people, but we have and will continue to do so if they continue to litter in this way.
“Dropping litter is against the law, many people don not think of cigarette ends as litter, but they are. We hope people will take notice of this campaign and help us to keep Carmarthenshire clean.”
Wendy Humphreys from Carmarthen receives a free pocket ashtray from council officer Tina Brice.
Picture: Jeff Connell.
Carmarthenshire County Council, supported by Tidy Towns, is encouraging people to put their cigarette ends in the bin instead of littering the streets.
They want to raise awareness of this type of litter which not only looks unsightly but is also very difficult and expensive to clean up as the ends fall into grates and cracks in the pavement which makes them almost impossible to remove by normal cleaning.
Discarded cigarette ends make up the largest proportion of litter in Carmarthenshire with visible evidence of smoking-related litter found on 83 per cent of the streets inspected by Keep Wales Tidy.
Council officers were in Carmarthen town centre giving out free pocket ashtrays and to warn people that if they are caught dropping a cigarette end in public they could be fined £75 or more if prosecuted in court.
The council’s environmental enforcement officers regularly carry out patrols across the county. They can issue fixed penalty notices of £75 for littering. People can also be prosecuted in the magistrates court where the maximum fine is £2,500.
Director of technical services Richard Workman said: We don't want to fine people, but we have and will continue to do so if they continue to litter in this way.
“Dropping litter is against the law, many people don not think of cigarette ends as litter, but they are. We hope people will take notice of this campaign and help us to keep Carmarthenshire clean.”
Wendy Humphreys from Carmarthen receives a free pocket ashtray from council officer Tina Brice.
Picture: Jeff Connell.
Comments