It's not just us

But really I never expected any different

When I got the response to the FOI request in my last post, the figures were better than I expected

Litter – black bag = 2
Litter – cigarette = 4113
Litter – food = 16
Dog fouling = 26
Litter – other = 110
Litter – printed material = 9
Smoke free = 151

Quite obviously, Kingdom Environmental Services, who were employed to clean up the town of litter louts and dog foulers, are only interested in targeting smokers

But that's just the figures for my local area. Kingdom are employed by more councils than just my own and other councils fine litterers with their own wardens. It stands to reason that by now, smokers are seen as cash cows for most, if not all councils

And there's is such a pattern emerging

Chris Snowden over at Velvet Glove sent me this:

Click to biggen

That is from the crime section of his local newspaper and it's all people receiving huge fines for dropping cigarette buts

From RooBeeDoo on Twitter:

Litter fine company catches almost 5000 people in Flintshire

Neither Kingdom or the Flintshire Daily Post are even attempting to hide the fact that the 5000 are almost exclusively smokers. It isn't questioned throughout the article

The council also show a bare faced cheek in the article. Apparently they are considering giving Kingdom powers to enforce parking and they had this to say about it

He said: “The contract will include clear guidelines which will specify the principles on which the contract will be managed and operated.

“This will include a requirement for the company to provide a minimum level of service for the enforcement of dog fouling and dog control which will prevent the company concentrating on car parking and littering offences which can be seen by some as an ‘easy target’ for enforcement.

They don't want Kingdom to be going after easy targets, yet so far, 4330 fines out of 4726 are for dropping cigarette ends

So 4330 less cigarette ends are on the street, but lets be realistic, you could fit those in the average fag bin on a pub doorway. 4330 less soft drinks cans or kebab wrappers on the street would make a much bigger difference

The council seem more than happy with the results though

The local authority were so pleased with the year-long trial, which operates in Flintshire, Wrexham, Conwy, Denbighshire and Anglesey, that they are set to continue using a contractor to carry out the work on an initial two-year contract.

There's money to be made from smokers. Anti-smoking pays