£400 fine for smoker who threw cigarette butt on ground at Whittlesford Service Station

A smoker who threw a cigarette butt to the ground at Whittlesford Service Station has been fined £400.

The individual was seen by a South Cambridgeshire District Council officer discarding the cigarette end while standing beside a car after coming out of the services.

The offender was given the opportunity to pay a fixed penalty notice for £400 rather than attend court for the offence.

Cllr Natalie Warren Green, lead cabinet member for environmental services and waste for the council, said: “Cigarette butts might be small, but their impact is huge. They pollute our streets, harm wildlife and make our district look uncared for. Tossing cigarette butts on the ground is like saying you don't care about our community, and in this case, at a service station, it presented a clear fire hazard too. As a council we are sending a clear message to respect our shared spaces and dispose of waste properly.”

Keep Britain Tidy data shows cigarette butts make up more than two thirds of all littered items, with nearly three million cigarette ends becoming litter in the UK every day.

Cigarette butts are made of plastic and do not biodegrade. They can contain chemicals including formaldehyde, nicotine, arsenic, lead, copper, chromium, cadmium and a variety of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Over time, they break apart into microplastics and seep toxins into the earth and our waterways.

Government figures show that UK local authorities have to spend approximately £40milliom in smoking-related litter costs.