£565 — for dropping cigarette butt

A LITTER lout is counting the cost of dropping a cigarette butt after being ordered to pay £565.

Jason Knight, of Middlefield, Bardsley, was spotted by an enforcement officer throwing the cigarette butt to the floor in Oldham’s Market Place on September 16, last year.

He was issued with a £80 fixed penalty notice but then taken to Oldham Magistrates Court after failing to pay.

Magistrates ordered him to pay a fine of £350 plus costs of £200 and a victim surcharge of £15.

They also made a collection order that if payment is not made within 28 days, Mr Knight will be summoned back to court for non payment and could face a prison sentence.

Oldham Council chiefs say he is just the latest litter lout to be punished financially for irresponsible behaviour in their drive to clean-up the borough.

Councillor Mark Alcock, Cabinet Member for Environment and Infrastructure, said: “This fine could have been so easily avoided if the individual had bothered to put his litter in one of the many bins provided by the council.

“The council operates a zero-tolerance policy on dropping litter, and we will fine people who drop any kind of litter, including things like cigarette butts and chewing gum.

“Because of irresponsible behaviour such as this we have to spend over £2 million a year on street cleaning and litter picking. This is tax payers’ money that could be spent on delivering more essential services to the people of Oldham.

“To date we have issued several hundred fixed penalty notices to litter louts across the borough to help keep our area a clean and pleasant place to live and work.

“Irresponsible people should think twice. Council enforcement officers and Police Community Support Officers are patrolling the borough issuing fines for littering and dog fouling offences.

“These officers also act on information given to them by members of the public, litter watchers and friends of the parks groups.”