WHEN smoker Leanne Horton finished her cigarette she stubbed out the butt on the pavement - and it cost her £50.

Mrs Horton, from Abingdon, was seen by an environment warden in the town's shopping precinct and issued with a £75 fixed penalty ticket for dropping litter.

The fine was reduced to £50 by the Vale of White Horse District Council because Mrs Horton, from Southmoor Way, paid the fine within 14 days.

The 20 cigarette-a-day smoker said: "I was flabbergasted when the council official stopped me and said I had committed an offence for dropping the cigarette.

"Usually I leave the finished cigarette in an ash tray or waste bin but occasionally I stub it out on the floor with my foot.

"My argument is that there are no notices warning people that it's an offence to drop cigarette ends.

"There is a lot of other litter in the streets such as empty food cartons, cans and bottles that are far worse than small cigarette ends. The council should provide small receptacles for cigarettes next to waste bins."

The council's deputy director for environmental health, David Stevens, said environment wardens issued two fixed penalty notices to members of the public who had dropped cigarette butts on the floor in the shopping precinct.

He said in both cases no attempt was made to dispose of the cigarette butts properly in the bins provided in the precinct.

Mr Stevens said: "Dropping cigarette butts is just the same as dropping any other kind of litter and is against the law. Cigarette litter not only spoils the look of an area but is time consuming and expensive to clean up. This type of litter is a particular concern to people, so we are acting on these concerns. Our environment wardens will continue to issue fixed penalty notices to anyone caught dropping litter, including cigarette butts. This is part of their work to help make the Vale a cleaner and more pleasant place to live, work and visit."

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, updated by the Clean Neighbourhood Act 2005, it is an offence for people to drop or leave items of litter in the open air.