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Fixed Penalty Notices For Cigarette Littering

Following recent reports in the media regarding the Borough of Poole issuing a Fixed Penalty Notice to someone flicking cigarette ash we would like to clarify the exact details of this case.

Mr Joyce was not issued a Fixed Penalty Notice for dropping cigarette ash.  The notice was issued for littering a cigarette from his car.  However, due to an unfortunate human error there was a misspelling in the wording of the notice and it said 'dripping' instead of 'dropping'. We will be writing to Mr Joyce to clarify the reasons for the issuing of the penalty notice.

The people of Poole continually tell us that keeping the Borough clean is a top priority and as such we take the issue of littering very seriously. The Borough spends £1.7million on cleansing services and cigarette butts alone can take up to 10 years to biodegrade. Carelessly discarding cigarette butts also present a dangerous hazard to other road users and pedestrians and just recently a discarded cigarette set a car on fire in Poole.

Our officers involved acted appropriately according to our policy but an administrative error, coupled with the facts not being available at the time this was reported in the media, have resulted in this inaccurate coverage. We will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to littering.

Katharine Teed, Communications, Borough of Poole 01202 633295