Latest news

Keep Britain Tidy slams "The Year of the Cig"

We are never more than three feet away from a discarded cigarette butt. That is the damning verdict of Keep Britain Tidy on the first anniversary of the smoking ban. The number of fag ends on our streets has doubled in the last 12 months. Cigarette stubs and fag packets have now overtaken fast food as the country’s worst litter problem. Smokers have not taken responsibility for their actions and the rest of us are suffering.

Dropping a cigarette butt on the ground is an offence which can lead to a fine of £80. But so far, that is not proving to be a deterrent. Phil Barton, chief executive Keep Britain Tidy, said "Quite simply the message is not getting across. Everywhere you look there are discarded cigarette butts. When you are walking along any street in any town you will see fag ends and cigarette packets lining the ground. On average you will find a cigarette butt every three feet: that’s the size and scale of this problem. Our pubs and restaurants are much nicer environments to be in these days thanks to the smoking ban and that has to be good news. But the knock on effect to the outside environment has been staggering and shameful. Smokers and owners of premises where people smoke must wake up to their responsibilities."

Keep Britain Tidy absolutely supports efforts by local authorities to fine people who treat our streets like a giant ashtray. Mr Barton said: “People drop butts because they think that they will get away with it. We need to see more people prosecuted and we totally support councils in efforts to tackle this problem.” Keep Britain Tidy also wants responsible smokers to get used to new portable ashtrays on the market. Businesses too have a key role to play. Mr Barton added: “Pubs and restaurants should have ashtrays outside their premises and they have a role in educating their smoking customers to get rid of butts responsibly.”

Keep Britain Tidy has run three campaigns tackling cigarette litter: June and September 2007 and more recently in April this year. Three months ago Keep Britain Tidy highlighted the cig litter epidemic by dumping a giant cigarette stub in Trafalgar Square. Ten thousand posters and banners went up across the country warning “Dirty Chuckers” of £80 fines. In each of the three campaigns we have seen a reduction in the amount of cigarette litter in the regions targeted. Thirteen towns in our April campaign saw a 23% reduction in cigarette litter.

Source: EnCams, 16th July 2008
Article link

> back to latest news index