11:31am Friday 14th September 2007
By Staff Reporter
The number of cigarette butts dropped on the streets of England has gone up by more than 40 per cent since the smoking ban was brought in, litter campaigners said today.
Keep Britain Tidy said the English were much worse for dropping cigarette ends than the rest of the UK.
The organisation said there has been a 43 per cent increase in butts on England's streets since the smoking ban was introduced in July, compared to a 17 per cent rise in Northern Ireland and a seven per cent in Wales since those countries brought in their bans on smoking in enclosed public places.
Scotland saw an initial rise in smoking litter but it then reduced as more people used cigarette bins, Keep Britain Tidy said.
In England, there has also been seven times as much smoking-related rubbish on the streets, including cigarette packets and matches, since people were forced outside to smoke.
Ginette Unsworth, senior marketing manager for Keep Britain Tidy, said: "There's no reason for England to be bottom of the cig end grot pile'. It had more time than any other country in the UK to prepare for the ban. It's disgusting to see such a lack of pride in the state of the country's streets".
Keep Britain Tidy said 37 per cent of councils across the country had seen a rise in complaints about dropped cigarette butts.
According to the organisation, smoking litter makes up 40 per cent of the rubbish on our streets and costs £200 million a year to clear up.
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