Press Releases
Smokers - bin your butt! (PR 1000)
Smokers forced outside because of the smoking ban are being asked by Ealing Council to think clean and green and bin their cigarette butts.
With the introduction of the smoking ban on 1 July, the Council is concerned that smokers forced outside of pubs and other public places will result in an explosion of cigarette litter on the streets.
As part of Ealing Council’s mission to make the borough grime free, smokers caught dropping fag-ends, cigarette packets or matches on the streets could be liable to an £80 fixed penalty notice.
Cllr Will Brooks, Cabinet Member for Environment and Street
Services, said:
“This year we are investing an extra £1.5 million in street
cleaning. This extra money should really help to clean up our
streets and make the borough a much nicer place to live. It would
be a terrible waste of our extra cleaning squads time if they were
simply tied up cleaning up cigarette butts, boxes and matches.”
As well as getting envirocrime officers to enforce cigarette litter offences the Council is also giving away hundreds of butt pouches in the run up to the introduction of smokefree. The pocket size pouches enable smokers to put out a keep their cigarette butt until they find a bin.
In addition, the Council has also updated its bins with 50 new bins with cigarette stubber plates on the side. Ealing Business Improvement District has also paid for 35 of these bins for Ealing Town Centre. Acton already has bins with ashtray plates and in Southall people can safely stub out cigarettes on the cast iron bins before binning.
The picture shows: Envirocrime officer Ruston Wyatt is pictured telling local residents, Jed, Hugo and Alan how to avoid a fine by binning their cigarette butts in Ealing Broadway.
Notes to editors:
When Ireland’s smoking ban was introduced in 2003 there was a 20% increase in cigarette litter.
Ealing Council has three top priorities – cleaner streets, safer communities and value for money services.
Ends