Babergh District Council has welcomed the decision of St Edmundsbury Magistrates’ Court today (Jan 14) to order a Sudbury man to pay £495 for a littering offence.
Phillip Clark, of Priory Walk, Sudbury was witnessed by a Sudbury Town Council Warden throwing a cigarette out of his car while waiting at the lights on King Street, Sudbury, on 20th May 2009.
When questioned about the incident by Babergh’s Environmental Protection team, Mr Clark admitted throwing the cigarette out of his window as his car ashtray was full of change. Mr Clark was then offered the opportunity of paying a Fixed Penalty Notice fine of £80 (reduced to £60 if paid within ten days) as an alternative to prosecution.
However, Mr Clark failed to pay the Fixed Penalty, despite several reminders from the Council.
As a result, the case was taken to St Edmundsbury Magistrates’ Court, where Mr Clark entered a guilty plea and received a fine of £150 and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £15 and costs of £350.
Joanna Hart, Environmental Protection Officer said: “While this may initially seem a trivial matter to some, it costs Babergh taxpayers nearly £80,000 a year to clean Sudbury town centre.
“It’s a particular shame in this instance as Mr Clark was within easy reach of an ashtray in his car but chose not to use it.
“Babergh welcomes the fact that Magistrates reflected the seriousness of the offence in the amount of fine and charges given to Mr Clark.”
Smoking-related litter is the most commonly found litter on UK streets and makes up more than 40% of all litter dropped in this country.
In 2008, Babergh joined up with Sudbury Town Council to spend approximately £10,000 on installing 22 new litter bins – all fitted with cigarette ashtrays – in the town centre.
“It is unfortunate a minority of people seem to have little respect for the town which they live and work in” added Joanna Hart. “So it is important they understand that dropping litter is an offence and that Babergh is prepared to take incidents like this to court if necessary.”
The money raised from the Fixed Penalties goes directly back into ensuring Babergh’s streets are kept clean.
Babergh officers work closely with Sudbury Town Wardens to keep an eye out for litterers, and periodically patrol Sudbury town centre to conduct similar campaigns against litterers, as well as at other “hotspots” in the district.
Anyone witnessing someone littering should contact Babergh on (01473) 826622.
ENDS
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