Llanelli campaign to beat cigarette litter
A campaign against smoking-related litter has helped clean up Llanelli.
Carmarthenshire County Council, supported by Tidy Towns, is encouraging people to put their cigarette ends in the bin.
A campaign has been launched 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 the St Elli Shopping Centre giving out free pocket ashtrays to help keep the town clean and to warn people that anyone caught dropping a cigarette end in public can be fined.
The council’s environmental enforcement officers regularly carry out patrols and anyone caught throwing litter can be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £75 or even prosecuted in the magistrates court where they can be fined up to £2,500.
Director of technical services Richard Workman said: "Many people do not think of cigarette ends as litter, but they are. We hope people will take notice of this campaign. We don't want to fine people, but we have and will continue to do so if they continue to litter in this way."
Christina Thomas and Nadine Williams from Llanelli receive their free pocket ashtrays from Simon Troake of Tidy Towns and St Elli Shopping Centre manager Andrew Stephens.
Picture: Jeff Connell.
Carmarthenshire County Council, supported by Tidy Towns, is encouraging people to put their cigarette ends in the bin.
A campaign has been launched 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 the St Elli Shopping Centre giving out free pocket ashtrays to help keep the town clean and to warn people that anyone caught dropping a cigarette end in public can be fined.
The council’s environmental enforcement officers regularly carry out patrols and anyone caught throwing litter can be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £75 or even prosecuted in the magistrates court where they can be fined up to £2,500.
Director of technical services Richard Workman said: "Many people do not think of cigarette ends as litter, but they are. We hope people will take notice of this campaign. We don't want to fine people, but we have and will continue to do so if they continue to litter in this way."
Christina Thomas and Nadine Williams from Llanelli receive their free pocket ashtrays from Simon Troake of Tidy Towns and St Elli Shopping Centre manager Andrew Stephens.
Picture: Jeff Connell.
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