A word of warning !
 

One of my staff was collared by 2 Community Officers on saturday on Broadway and given a £50 fine for......dropping a cigarette butt on the ground ! I think this is right, maybe it will discourage him from smoking (he is only 17) and hopefully he will learn that littering is not acceptable.
Possibly the most expensive fag he has ever smoked; and the fine goes up to £75 if not paid within 10 days !
He was most indignant that he hadn't done anything wrong;so smokers and gum chewers beware, they are out to get you !:tongueout

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Makes note to put dog end in rubbish bin tomorrow, on our weekly shopping visit to Accy tomorrow.

I normally do, but just hope the fine for setting a bin on fire is less than £50.:D

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this goes back to what cashy was on about last week, they used to have a cigarette thing on the wall at the end of the arndale but its now gone, does this mean they removed it so they can fine more people? is it a money making thing? makes you wonder doesnt it

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My mum got a fine of 50 through the post a while back for a passenger throwing a ciggy out the window

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Wonder if they will start fining busker's dogs for having a pea in the middle of Broadway. Even more so when it's in season :mad:

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now thats summat i dont have to worry about:tongueout:...the fag ends;)

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dont get me wrong i agree with not throwing them on the floor even though i smoke, but £50 is a bit pathetic aint it

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i bet their isnt a fine for spitting on the floor is there? and to me that is one digusting habit, far worse than chucking fag ends on the floor!

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and it spreads germs

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Most disgusting habit in the world, really winds me up :mad:

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I thought that it was £75 for litter and £50 for dog poo :confused:

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you'd think it would be more for dog poo!

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Yes it grieves me :o
Just found this on council website
The council provide and maintain litter bins to try and prevent the depositing of litter in public places and arrange for the bins to be emptied on a regular basis. The fixed penalty fine for dropping litter is £70

The Dog Warden and a team of Enforcement Officers are responsible for enforcing the Dogs Fouling of Land Act which requires owners of dogs to clean up their faeces. Anyone found committing an offence under this Act will be issued with a £50 fixed penalty.

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disagree entirely how can it be right when they have removed the bin, they provide litter bins for litter n if ya drop it fair enough, but to fine when there is no bins for fag-ends is just the thin end of the wedge- a way to make money, its ok non smokers preaching its ok but ITS NOT.:mad:

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maybe they should have ashtrays scattered about:rolleyes:

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I agree with the fine, £50 although a bit steep is supposed to be a deterrent, there should be plenty of ashtrays though, I too think spitting and dog muck are far worse.

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Read my post - not £50 - £70

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It is plain to see, who the non smokers and non spitters are, I am a non spitter, but if the fine for throwing litter (when rubbish bins are supplied all over the town), then I would object to being fined for throwing a cigarette end (usually down the grid) when there are no ash trays around.

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He was deffo fined £50, I saw the penalty notice myself.
I am not having a rant about smokers, I don't see how a fag end is any different to any other litter to be honest, just stub it out and put it in the bin,not rocket science is it ?:rolleyes:

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this has been happening in scotland for years.when i go scotland now i only smoke in the grounds of somebodies house or designated areas in pubs any where else is a bit dodgy...

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Read your post Margaret, dont know what your getting at though, Lindsay said he was fined £50:confused:

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i agree with you it is more discusting for people to spit on the floor and when they make that horrible grotching noise it knocks me sick.

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£50 not £70
Perhaps some scam ? - did he just pay up there and then?

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He hasn't paid it yet; it stated on the penalty notice that the fine would be increased by £75 if not paid in 10 days. ( I didn't see that bit, maybe it is fixed at £75 and you get away with £50 if you pay up early; he tried to explain that bit to me and as you can tell from his predicament he isn't the sharpest tool in the box !:rolleyes:)

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exactly i always made use of the one (removed) from outside the arndale when downtown, and lindsay how can folk with bad backs stub a fag on the floor? if they stub em on some buggars shop wall etc there would be hell to play n rightly so from shop owners, that aint rocket science either.:rolleyes:

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They should turn the thousands of cracked flags, and potholes in the pavements in Hyndburn, into ashtrays.

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Just following on from your thread Cashy re. this issue, did E-mail HBC to ask them why they have disposed of the ash trays in the town centre .. so far no reply !! and don't expect to get one now. It's their duty to reply if only out of politeness... :(

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The very height of bad manners, never mind poor business procedure.

Your enquiry would probably still go unanswered if you were a tycoon, ready to move your business empire to the area.

The council is a shambles, whatever it decides to call itself.:(

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if they ever become polite, even i may.;)

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It's funny how spitting has been mentioned, for when I've watched match of the day in the past, I've seen these professional footballers spitting all over the place, if they where fined I wonder how much they would get fined with their wages, talk about setting a bad example.

Me thinks it's ether another money making racket by the council as their never short of ideas for that and it's not likely they'll install ashtrays of sorts with these steep fines are they.

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Once had this discussion with my son, who defended this spitting habit by field sport players, as some sort of medical reason when playing sport (sorry forgot precise details for this 'grotching'); never followed up his argument, as he put forward a strong point of view, however, would like to know about it now... ? Anybody ? :D

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What would you suggest then Shaz, £100, £150 or maybe more?

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Arguably the fine is lesser for dog waste because it disintegrates itself or washes away with the rain, whereas litter stays on the floor and takes longer (if it ever..) disintegrates.

I know people would argue against the logic of this but i am just trying to think of a reason why the fines differ.

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If there are no grids on the wall to stub fags out on and there are no bins then what are smokers supposed to do with the fag end? :confused:

What will happen to this lad if he doesn't pay at all?

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It goes to court if he doesn't pay up.
The bins on Broadway have a top on them; I don't think it's specifically designed for stubbing fags out on but I've seen it done many times.:rolleyes:

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dont get clever :rolleyes:

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I 'sort' of stubbed and dobbed one in the bin on Broadway, this afternoon.:D

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The same you would with a crisp packet, put it in your pocket and take it home.

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How do they know who he is so they can send him to court? Did he give them his name and address?

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I dont know if anyone going into town this week but it would be interesting to see.....
do the bins in the arndale still have the bits on them where you can stub out cigarettes before putting them in the bin? i know they used to have -
wouldnt it be ironic if they did ? lol!

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I wonder where council and goverment agencies allow there employees to smoke. and what happens to the butts.

To name an example: Melborne House on Eastgate, they smoke at the front and guess where all the fag ends end up.:rolleyes:

I bet there are many, many more.

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Last september there was a street fair in Haslingden and rossendale council were giving out to smokers little packets that you could carry round with you and if you had a fag you could put the stub out in the packet and no it wouldnt set fire to it. It could be used 5 times and then you throw it away. I got a couple but dont know where i put them. They would be handy for round accy wouldnt they.

Found one of them
heres a link to their site
Stubbi - Shop

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Yep; it's like the on the spot fines you can get for swearing and dropping any litter; they took his name and address.The ticket they gave him looked a bit like a parking ticket.

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yesterday after work went to gregss to get a pasty and i saw this 2 ladies with yellow waistcoats that said enviromental health on it, they were giving a fine to this girl that throwed a paper in floor, the girl well a woman really was crying and i was laughing my head of,im sure she will learn next time not to throw things on floor and try to be cleaver when she is asked to pick it up

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I agree you should not drop fag ends on the floor: I do smoke myself... and I always use a bin ( though most do not provide suitable ones to put out fags) Fire waiting to happen unless the powers that be provide safe bins...

however Community Officers have they really nothing better to do: they could start on the under age drinkers and drug users that gather at the steps at the back of the arndale.... or maybe even pick up the mess that is always there broken bottles / condoms/ and other cr*p that is there....

Oh and how about the gum chewers... wonder how many of them get fined and there mess just won't sweep up:

Just got back from Spain.... could smoke inside in most area's .... cost of living much cheaper and SUNSHINE really going to consider moving out of this crazy country stick of it here and the stupid rules and regs:

Re: A word of warning !
 

Well, just got a reply as follows:-

'Dear Kate,

Sorry for the delay in responding to your question.

The problem of cigarette litter has grown significantly since the implementation of the recent smoking ban and the Council is looking at the best way to tackle it.

Unfortunately, it is not as simple as erecting lots of 'ash trays' around the town centres. As there are many issues surrounding ownerships of shop walls, planning issues surrounding what materials can be erected not that Broadway street furniture is all stainless steel, the cost of ash trays in this material is extremely high.

Not withstanding that, Enforcement officers are working with local business to provide suitable receptacles for their staff, (many of who are responsible for the litter). Police Community Officers are handing out on the spot fines to people dropping litter. In addition, my street cleansing department has just purchased a new piece of equipment to help suck up this type of litter and you have noticed various displays on Council vehicles trying to educated residents of the problems litter causes.

I hope this shows that we are tackling the issue and hope you see improvements over the coming year.'

Yours sincerely

S Riley
Waste Services Manager

Suppose one way of looking at it is, with this new machine, easier to suck it up off the floor, rather than empty an ash tray . ? So carry on with your little portables folks and don't get caught. :(

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thanks for that kate, the useless sods never bothered to answer the query about the REMOVAL of the EXISTING bins, no issue with that wall, was already on it.

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So does sex;)

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I quit smoking when my surgeon suggested that quitting was a better alternative to dying. But I do think that the smoking nazis are becoming a little too punitive. They seem to believe that by punishing smokers and by making it difficult to smoke outside by hiding or removing ashtrays they will convince smokers to quit. It's an addiction for christ's sake! And a damned hard one to get rid of. If the fines went into a fund to create programmes for those who wish to quit or to convince the non-smoking youth that tobacco addiction is dangerous not only to smokers but also to non-smokers that would be ok. But, from some of the posts, one gets the idea that this is just one more local govt. cash grab.

I know it's a little off topic; but, it also p***es me off that the smoking nazis seem to have turned smoking into a moral issue ... suggesting that smokers are somehow worse people than non-smokers.

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That is very true, Eric, there has been an aspect of the anti-smoking brainwashing that suggests smokers are morally and socially inferior. It annoys me intensely that this pathetic government thinks the way to reduce smoking is to demonize smokers. Although I no longer smoke I sympathise with smokers who, in my opinion, are treated abominably.

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Eric n West Ender, reasons you think this way. (1) yer ex smokers. (2) ya got sense n can see the big picture.;)

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Was in Haslingden on tuesday and i picked up another couple of the stubbi packs - for free. They are giving them away in Rossendale. What about hyndburn doing that instead of giving fines out give them a stubbi - then they have no excuse for throwing the cig ends away. If they do then they deserve to be fined.

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probably cos hyndburns to busy being excellant to bother about its people.:rolleyes:

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What is a stubbi? :confused:

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from what i can gather its a box/container to put yer fag ends in lilly.

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Stubbi - Shop

one of them. Its a pouch that you can put your lit fags into and stub them out. seal it and it dont smell or set fire to it.

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Thanks, Shillelagh. I've not seen those before. What a good idea. :)

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Small portable ashtrays available from £1 shop in the form of a key-ring