A Bristol woman has been fined a total of nearly £1,500 after throwing her cigarette butt on the ground outside a supermarket.
Terie Green was ordered to pay the penalties after South Gloucestershire Council prosecuted her for littering last November.
She was spotted throwing away a cigarette end by the council’s street enforcement officers who were on uniformed patrol.
She was given a fixed penalty notice and provided her personal details, but after she failed to pay the fee the offence went to Bristol Magistrates Court .
She did not attend the hearing and was 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.’
