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A Friday morning (17th October) crackdown by Babergh District Council against people discarding cigarette butts resulted in seven on-the-spot fines being issued – in just one 90 minute period!
Officers from Babergh’s Environmental Protection Team focussed on a small area in the centre of Sudbury around the town’s Market Hill and North Street.
According to James Buckingham, Babergh’s Principal Environmental Protection Officer “what is extraordinary is that all of these people concerned threw away their cigarette butts literally within a few yards of either a cigarette ashtray or bin! It really wouldn’t have taken them too much trouble to dispose of their waste responsibly. It’s a shame that a minority of people don’t seem to care about the town in which they live and work”
The District Council has recently joined up with Sudbury Town Council to spend approximately £10,000 on installing 22 new litter bins – all fitted with cigarette ashtrays – in the town centre. The annual cost to Council Taxpayers of cleaning up Sudbury town centre is nearly £80,000.
Smoking related litter is the most commonly found litter on the UK's streets and beaches, making up more than 40% of all litter dropped in this country. An estimated 122 tonnes of cigarette butts, matchsticks and cigarette related litter is dropped every day across the UK.
“The seven Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) that we issued are really an alternative to prosecution in the courts and are aimed at deterring would-be litterers from defacing the environment again. The money raised from these FPNs (£80 per FPN, reduced to £60 if paid within ten days) goes directly back into paying for the streets to be swept to try to keep Sudbury clean and pleasant” added James Buckingham.
Babergh issued the FPNs under powers granted to it in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. Earlier this year the Council publicised its adoption of these powers and willingness to use them where appropriate. In light of the high incidence of littering of this type, Babergh officers plan to periodically return to Sudbury town centre to conduct similar campaigns against litterers, as well as at other ‘hotspots’ in the district.
Anyone witnessing someone littering should contact Babergh on (01473) 826622
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