A driver who dropped a cigarette from his car while waiting at traffic lights has ended up paying more than £1,000 in fines and costs. The incident happened in East London last September - and this week the motorist was ordered to pay more than £1,000 by Magistrates after he refused to pay the initial £150 fixed penalty.
LondonLive reported that Abdul Hasad Chowdhury of Petworth Way, Hornchurch was ordered to pay a £230 fine, £825 in costs to Barking and Dagenham Council and a victim surcharge of £92 - which has set him back £1,147.
The incidnet was sparked when a council enforcement officer from Barking and Dagenham council saw Mr Chowdhury chucking a cigarette out of the driver’s seat while he was waiting at the traffic lights on Whalebone Lane North in Dagenham on September 17, 2022. Council officers discovered the car was a courtesy car and at the time of the incident was registered to Mr Chowdhury.
Mr Chowdhury was initially handed a fixed penalty notice of £150 for littering however he told a council officer he wanted to appeal the fine because he was driving a courtesy car and that it was a non-smoking car. He insisted he was a vaper and not a regular smoker.
The appeal was rejected and the case went to Barkingside Magistrates Court as Mr Chowdhury had refused to pay the £150 fine. Cllr Syed Ghani, cabinet member for enforcement and community safety said: “Dropping a cigarette on the floor or on our roads may seem like a harmless crime, but there’s no such thing and littering is a criminal offence.
“We won’t stand for people littering our streets and making them dirty and we will always take action if we witness it. This one cigarette has now cost this man over £1,000.”
