Smokers in Hastings hit with penalties amounting to thousands of pounds for dropping cigarette butts

Undated handout photo of cigarette butts in the street. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Friday September 14, 2007. The number of cigarette butts dropped on the streets of England has gone up by more than 40% since the smoking ban was brought in, litter campaigners said today. Keep Britain Tidy said the English were much worse for dropping cigarette ends than the rest of the UK. See PA Story ENVIRONMENT Cigarettes. Photo credit should read: Ken Lennox/PA Wire pa_news_20050206_092001_environm

They were caught out in a Hastings Borough Council crack-down on littering which involved using a specialist enforcement contractor.

Offenders who did not pay penalty notices were hit with a £120 fine and £216 costs - a total of £336.

SEE ALSO: Hastings man convicted of controlling behaviour told woman what to wear.In just one court sitting recently 38 people were hit with fines and costs which added up to £12,768. In all the cases the verdict was proved in their absence.

Offences dates back to February and March this year. The majority of offenders were caught outside Hastings and Warrior Square train stations, suggesting these were specifically targeted.

Concerns have been raised by Citizen’s Advice that many of the people facing the £336 court bill are already in financial hardship.

A Hastings Borough Council spokesperson said: Smoking related litter is a serious issue in Hastings and is one of the commonest types of litter that needs to be cleaned up in areas such as the town centres and seafront.

“Over the years the council has run several awareness raising campaigns about this and handed out a lot of free ‘butt boxes’ to help smokers dispose of their litter responsibly.

“In late 2016 early 2017 the Council ran a social media campaign about littering, and received a lot of positive feedback urging the Council to take more enforcement action against litterers and irresponsible dog owners in relation to fouling.

“The Council operated a pilot with a specialist enforcement contractor to assess the impact that approach could have on littering in the borough, and to learn more about how that enforcement delivery model could operate in Hastings in the longer term. The pilot lasted for 12 months and ended early in July this year. The majority of Fixed Penalty Notices issued by the contractor were for smoking related littering, and the Council’s legal services team have been prosecuting offenders who failed to pay.

“The Council’s warden service is our main street scene enforcement service and has resumed littering enforcement now that the pilot is over, and the Council is considering the options for this type of enforcement in the future.”