Smokers forced to pay out £550 for dropping fag butts

Two men in Nottingham have been hit with fines and costs of over £550 for dropping cigarette butts.

The fines serve as a warning to pubs to provide outside ashtrays for their customers if smoking is occurring on the street.

Magistrates ordered Fatmer Sula of Norbett Road, Arnold, and Thomas Lunt of Leybourne Drive, Bestwood, to pay the charges after failing to cough up for the original fixed penalty notice of £75 for littering.

Sula was ordered to pay a fine of £375, costs of £177.33 and a £15 victim surcharge.

Lunt was ordered to pay a fine of £375, costs of £168.66 and a £15 victim surcharge.

"This sends out the message that Nottingham City Council operates a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to littering, particularly cigarette litter as that increases our cleaning costs as a city," said councillor Katrina Bull.

"We will take action against those people who continue to litter, helping us in our objective to be the cleanest of all the major cities.

"Cigarette ends are the most common type of litter on our streets and as such the ultimate responsibility for disposing of them does rest with the individual. This city is not an ashtray."