Dimp Dumper Fined

A 72 year old from Wales has been fined £75 after throwing a used cigarette stub out of his car after removing it from his shoe. Ken Morris of south Wales is a non-smoker, but discarding the butt after it has become attached to his shoe when he was seen and fined for dropping litter. He paid the fine and said he didn't object as he had always been in support of not dropping litter. His wife did not agree, however, and said that if the council kept the streets cleaner her husband wouldn't have had a cigarette butt on his shoe.

There has been mixed feedback on this incident ranging from anger that Mr Morris paid the fine without appealing, to those who agree to fixed penalty notices for litter bugs. It is obvious that he didn't do it deliberately but the fine will ensure he never does it again. Whatever your views are, the one thing this incident has done is got people talking about litter and making people more aware of what it could cost them if they were caught littering.

I'm sure many would not have thought what he did was classed as littering. I've seen many car owners shake their car mats at the side of the car before driving off but wasn't aware that if there were bits on the mat it would be called littering. Most people I know class litter as obvious rubbish, empty packets, take away wrappers, drink cartons/bottles etc. But even throwing away a piece of chewing gum that has lost its flavor is classed as littering. And anyone that has had encountered dried chewing gum will tell you what a nightmare it is to remove without a gum removal machine.

Everyone needs to do their bit in tackling the litter problem in the UK instead of pointing the finger. If fining people makes them take notice and be more responsible them, I'm all for it. UK local authorities are currently spending around £500m per year of tax payers' money on litter collection. Most towns and cities will have street cleaners out each week with road sweepers collecting litter that the public has dropped. With budget cuts and limited funds, unless you want to be paying a lot more council tax then it's time to take care of where you live and stop dropping litter on the streets.