A smoker is picking up an £800 bill after being caught throwing away a cigarette butt. Carl Smith, 31, was given a £100 fixed penalty notice earlier this year after he was caught discarding the butt on the street, Bromley Council said.
But when he failed to pay the penalty he was prosecuted for littering in Market Square, Bromley, contrary to the Environmental Protection Act. Last week he pleaded guilty by the single justice procedure.
Smith, of New Addington, Croydon, was ordered to pay £833 by Bromley Magistrates’ Court. The amount included a fine of £293, a surcharge of £117 and costs of £423 to be paid by January 14.
Bromley Council said the fine would be a warning to others. It said this was the 12th prosecution it had carried out for littering since the beginning of September.
It said they serve as a “warning to others to not discard unwanted items in the street, but to place them in a litter bin or take rubbish home”. A spokesperson said: “On behalf of residents, the council has street-cleaning teams working seven days a week across the borough, keeping our streets neat.
“Littering undoes this work and is illegal, with our enforcement team issuing a fixed penalty notice to anyone seen littering. If payment is not received then prosecution will follow, with fines and costs being considerably higher than the fixed penalty notice.”