A woman has been told to pay nearly £1,500 for dropping one cigarette butt on the floor. Terie Green was prosecuted after a council worker saw her discard a butt without any attempt to bin it outside a supermarket.
She was hit with a penalty notice but, when she failed to pay, the local council took court action. Green did not attend the hearing and was found guilty of littering in her absence.
She was ordered to pay a fine of £660, a further £559 in costs and a £264 victim surcharge - a total of £1,483. Amie Copley, of 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."
The case was heard at Bristol magistrates' court on April 17, according to a council statement. Green, of Mangotsfield, discarded the cigarette on November 9 last year.
