A MAN has been slapped with a £607 fine after dropping a cigarette butt in Abingdon town centre.

Jamie White, of Elsfield just north of Oxford, was caught dropping the cigarette butt on the ground in The Square in Abingdon, next to his car on November 27 at 12.30pm.

Vale of White Horse District Council enviromental enforcement officers said the 31-year-old failed to dispose of it in a bin and as such he was prosecuted for littering in a public place.

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He was initially given an £80 fixed penalty notice which would have been reduced to £50 if paid within 10 days.

White failed to pay the intial fine and was sent three reminder notices, which he also failed to respond to before he was prosecuted at court.

He was due to appear at Oxford Magistrates' Court on Monday, February 25, but failed to turn up.

Despite this, the case was still heard by magistrates and he was ordered to pay a fine of £160, prosecution costs of £417 and a victim surgcharge of £30.

In 2009, a man fined for dropping a cigarette end vowed to fight against the penalty as he said it was biodegradable and therefore not litter - READ THE STORY HERE 

Councillor Elaine Ware, cabinet member for housing and environment at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “Littering is unpleasant and also illegal and where possible the council will prosecute those who are caught.”