No ifs, no butts, it’s banned
June 28th 2007

Twelve councils have teamed up with Keep Britain Tidy, determined that their area will not become a giant ashtray come July 1st.

Keep Britain Tidy posters urging people to ‘Stub it, bin it’ are on billboards, phone boxes and bus stops across Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Camden, Colchester, Cornwall, Leeds, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Stoke-On-Trent, Wigan and Wirral.

“Keep Britain Tidy is working very closely with councils and businesses to ensure they will cope with the inevitable rise in cigarette litter,” says Ian Clayton, deputy chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy. “Workshops, training courses, reduced price cigarette bins and free posters are just some of the ways councils and businesses can prepare themselves for July 1st.”

Birmingham City Council has handed out 10,000 free portable ashtrays across the city to smokers. Adverts are playing on local radio stations and metal top bins have been placed around the city so smokers can easily stub their cigarette end before placing it safely in the bin.

In Cambridge, council officers greeted day trippers and commuters off the trains with the ‘stub it, bin it’ message. They also joined up with the fire service to host a stand in the main pedestrian area advising people about cigarette litter and the potential fine they faced as well as reminding them of the fire hazard of smouldering fag ends.

All twelve councils are fining people who continue to drop cigarette ends and other litter. People can be fined up to £80 under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act.

Keep Britain Tidy has run three conferences for local authorities recently, preparing them for the ban. Additionally, there are workshops in Birmingham, London and Manchester in July for local authority officers and managers, helping to prepare them for the smoking ban and tackling smoking related litter.

The event promises to be interactive and offer networking opportunities and the chance to learn what’s worked for other councils and how they plan to beat the litter blight of cigarette ends. Places are limited and it’s a very popular event so click here.

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