A SMOKER who was slapped with a £75 fine for dropping a cigarette butt on the floor said there is ‘no way’ he is going to pay it.

Roy Lawrenson said he was left ‘gobsmacked’ after being one of the first to be fined under a new initiative aimed at cracking down on litter louts in Blackburn with Darwen.

Council bosses have teamed up with Kingdom Environment Enforcement Services, whose teams patrol both Blackburn and Darwen town centres, as well as parks, open spaces and problem areas, looking for those who fail to clean up after themselves.

Enforcers wearing bodycams took to the streets of Blackburn on Wednesday for the first time and fined 12 people for discarding cigarette stubs.

Mr Lawrenson, from Darwen, was spotted dropping his cigarette on the floor outside Morrisons in Railway Road.

He claims he was unaware of the new rule because it was not advertised, but environment bosses said they have no plans to put signs up as everyone already knows dropping litter is against the law.

The-54-year-old said: “I was gobsmacked when he gave me the £75 fine.

“There were no bins around and no signs saying they were giving out fines so I didn’t realise.

“I said ‘sorry, I didn’t know’ and picked it up and put it in my pocket and he still gave me a ticket.

“They’re like praying mantises waiting to jump out and fine you.

“I haven’t lived in the borough since 1985 and only came back to Darwen in March and honestly didn’t know anything about it.”

Mr Lawrenson, who is off work due to a broken hand, said he will not be paying the fine.

He said: “There’s no way I’m paying it, they can take me to court, it will cost them more.

“How are people supposed to know about it when it’s not advertised? It’s pathetic. The first I heard about it was when I was fined, then I read about it in the paper after.

“How can the council talk down to the public about litter when the back streets are full of rubbish? It’s disgusting.”

Cllr Jim Smith, the borough’s environmental boss, said: “Littering is littering and it is against the law.

“I strongly recommend he pays the fine. There has been enough printed in the paper prior to it coming into force. It is against the law to litter and has been against the law since the 70s.

“We are not out to penalise people. We are out to change behaviour.

“The question is, why would you chuck it on the floor and not in the bin?

“There is a cost to cleaning up the town centre and there has been a lot of work gone into the borough over the last two years.

“We are trying to get people to want to live here. The less money we spend cleaning town centre the more we can invest in the outside areas.”

Cllr Smith said there were no plans to put up signs up.

He said: “It is absolutely obvious. Dear God, I am 53 years old and I remember watching adverts about it when I was a child telling you not to drop litter.

“There is no need for signs. Everyone knows not to drop it. It has been against the law for as long as I have lived.

“There is a common-sense approach to this.”

Richard McIlwain, deputy chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “As a country, we need a robust mechanism for enforcement.

“Littering is illegal and antisocial and if people flout the law they should expect to be punished.

“However, all enforcement must be done in line with national government guidelines and, for maximum impact, enforcement should also be combined with communication and education on the law and the penalties that apply to littering.”