Two women fined for cigarette litter
Two women have each been fined £75 for dropping cigarette ends in McDonalds car park in Carmarthen.
The women, aged 20 and 24, were caught by the council’s environmental enforcement officers in separate incidents.
Failure to pay the fixed penalty notices could result in prosecution in the magistrates court and a maximum fine of up to £2,500.
Carmarthenshire County Council has a launched a campaign to highlight the problem of smoking-related litter and encourage people to put their cigarette butts in the bin.
Officers will be handing out free portable ashtrays at Carmarthen market on Wednesday, April 6, the St Elli Shopping Centre in Llanelli on Thursday, April 7 and Tesco in Ammanford on Friday, April 8 all between 11am and 2pm.
Director of Technical Services Richard Workman said: “Many people do not think of cigarette ends as litter, but they are. They make an area look unsightly and they are difficult and very expensive to clean up - the ends fall into grates and cracks in the pavement which makes them almost impossible to remove by normal cleaning.
“Hopefully these fines will help to raise awareness of this type of litter. We do not want to fine people but we will not hesitate to do so if they continue to litter in this way.”
Research shows that discarded cigarette ends make up the largest proportion of litter in Carmarthenshire with 83 per cent of litter found on the county’s streets smoking-related.
The women, aged 20 and 24, were caught by the council’s environmental enforcement officers in separate incidents.
Failure to pay the fixed penalty notices could result in prosecution in the magistrates court and a maximum fine of up to £2,500.
Carmarthenshire County Council has a launched a campaign to highlight the problem of smoking-related litter and encourage people to put their cigarette butts in the bin.
Officers will be handing out free portable ashtrays at Carmarthen market on Wednesday, April 6, the St Elli Shopping Centre in Llanelli on Thursday, April 7 and Tesco in Ammanford on Friday, April 8 all between 11am and 2pm.
Director of Technical Services Richard Workman said: “Many people do not think of cigarette ends as litter, but they are. They make an area look unsightly and they are difficult and very expensive to clean up - the ends fall into grates and cracks in the pavement which makes them almost impossible to remove by normal cleaning.
“Hopefully these fines will help to raise awareness of this type of litter. We do not want to fine people but we will not hesitate to do so if they continue to litter in this way.”
Research shows that discarded cigarette ends make up the largest proportion of litter in Carmarthenshire with 83 per cent of litter found on the county’s streets smoking-related.
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