A woman has been fined for dropping a cigarette end in the Co-op car park in Cross Hands.
Council environmental enforcement officers were on duty in the car park at the time of the offence.
She was issued with a fixed penalty notice for £75 and if it is not paid within 14 days she could be prosecuted in court where the maximum fine is £2,500.
Discarded cigarette ends make up the largest proportion of litter in Carmarthenshire and are found on around 80% of streets
Cigarette ends can take up to 12 years to break down, they can be eaten by children and animals and can contaminate water supplies because they contain toxic chemicals, such as cadmium, lead and zinc which leach into the soil and waterways.
Executive Board Member for Environmental and Public Protection Cllr Jim Jones said: “Cigarette ends not only look unpleasant but they are also very difficult and costly to clean up. They fall into grates and cracks in the pavement which makes them almost impossible to remove by normal cleaning methods.
“Anyone caught dropping this type of litter or any other type of litter for that matter will be fined.”
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