A 15-YEAR-OLD boy who is not even old enough to smoke landed himself in court for dropping a cigarette butt.
The youngster was amongst three teenagers who were spotted by council street wardens dropping a cigarette in Peterlee town centre.
The three were nabbed after the District of Easington council launched a crackdown with officers running patrols dur
ing April and May.
The fines follow moves in Hartlepool which saw council chiefs hand out 7,000 portable ashtrays aimed at stamping out on the scourge of cigarette litter.
Since April, Hartlepool Borough Council enforcement officers have issued 171 smokers with £75 fixed penalty notices after they failed to put their stubs in the bin.
Licensees could now be given the ashtrays to hand out to smokers in a bid to crack down on cigarette litter if funding can be secured.
While council chiefs say the device has so far proved a success, the problem of cigarette letter remains a big problem in the town.
Following the latest campaign, the east Durham trio were each given an £80 on-the-spot fine, but when they failed to pay they were summonsed to appear before Peterlee magistrates.
Becky Hockaday, 18, of Crawford Avenue, Peterlee, failed to attend court and was fined £80 in her absence. She was also ordered to pay costs of £43 and a £15 victim surcharge.
A 17-year-old boy from Peterlee also failed to appear and was fined £80 together with costs of £45 and a £15 surcharge.
A 15-year-old boy attended court and was given a conditional discharge for six months.
The youngster was also ordered to make a contribution of £43 towards costs.
George Patterson, the District of Easington council's executive member for the environment, said: "I hope these prosecutions serve as a reminder to smokers that we will not tolerate people discarding cigarette ends in the street.
"Not only do they take many years to decompose, but they can also be very difficult and costly to clean up."
