A Bristol woman has been fined more than £600 after failing to properly dispose of her cigarette butt outside a local supermarket in Staple Hill. Terie Green of Arnold Road, Mangotsfield, was ordered to pay a total of £1,483 after South Gloucestershire Council prosecuted her for littering last November.
She was spotted throwing away a cigarette end as she walked towards a local supermarket by South Gloucestershire Council’s Street Enforcement Officers who were on uniformed patrol on Broad Street in Staple Hill. Green was issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for the offence and provided her personal details.
After failing to pay the fee, the offence progressed to Bristol Magistrates Court but she failed to attend the hearing earlier this week. She was subsequently convicted in her absence and ordered to pay a fine of £660, along with £559 in costs and a £264 victim surcharge.
Amie Copley, Built Environment Enforcement Manager at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “Discarded cigarette ends can blight our town centres and communities, and are one of the most common forms of littering that we see. They can harm the environment and take many years to decompose.
“Anyone issued with a fixed penalty notice must pay their fine otherwise we will bring the matter before the courts. We encourage smokers to dispose of their smoking litter responsibly by using the bins provided or take it home with them.”
Littering and other anti-social offences can be reported by visiting www.southglos.gov.uk/report
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