'˜The fine fits the crime'

Gazette readers have backed a decison to fine a woman £220 after she was caught throwing litter out of her car window.
Litter dropped from a carLitter dropped from a car
Litter dropped from a car

Kelly Beardsworth, 26, Amberbanks Grove, South Shore, was seen by a council anti-litter officer when she dropped the bottle from the car as it travelled down the Promenade in September last year at 6.40am.

It is the first time a person has been prosecuted for dropping litter from a moving vehicle in the resort.

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She was issued with a £50 fixed penalty ticket but didn’t pay up, so was summonsed to court. She was fined £80 and ordered to pay £140 court costs, as revealed by The Gazette yesterday.

Here’s a selection of your comments on our Facebook page.

I always have a spare carrier bag in the car and every so often go round and pick all the rubbish up! The only thing I throw out of the window is a cigerette butt now and again plus I rarely smoke in my car unless it’s a long journey

Rebecca 
Nicholls

The fine fits the crime throwing a bottle is disgusting from a moving car

Jane Shipley

I watched a woman on Whitegate Drive do this with a Subway coffee cup the other day as she walked down the street with her children towing behind her. I beeped at her and pointed out she had dropped something. She picked it up and acted as if she’d accidentally dropped it, even though I saw her chuck it

Kelly Collins

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If people didn’t drop litter then the council wouldn’t need to employ street cleaners etc so really she’s keeping people in a job

Glen Johnson

Throwing litter on the floor and then trying to justify it by claiming it creates jobs, is moronic

Ryan Green

I know of someone who was fined £80 20 years ago for disposing of an empty 10 pack of fags from their car window, they never did it again

Dave Garrett

Should have made her do some community service picking up litter. Would have made it more inconvenient.

Colin Macfarlane

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I applaud Blackpool Council for its stance on scruffs who try to blight the town. Rogue landlords, mucky tattoo parlours, dog poo and litter.

Jane Littlewood

My car is like a mobile skip. Use it and chuck it in the back. Once a month clean all of it up and bin it. A lot cheaper than a fine and better for the environment.

Benn FS

I remember years ago my friend was going past this car in Clifton Street and this man threw his can out of the window right in front of her so she picked it up and threw it back in. The expession on the man’s face was a picture.

Elaine Hartley

Challenge litterers. If they won’t pick it up, you pick it up.

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I’d say many litterers are thoughtless or careless rather than malicious and when challenged change their ways.

Bill Drury

Would be perfectly fair providing following cases don’t get let off with a telling off

Ed Lea

Way too much considering speeding fines are much, much less

Kevin Southern

Maybe a day or two of road sweeping or litter picking is more appropriate

Angela Lunn

See it every day from school kids and car drivers

Allan Woods

Bit of litter picking would have been better suited

Steve Minto

How could it possibly be a mistake? It was a deliberate act and she knew fine well what she was doing.

Should put her on litter picking duties as well as the £220 fine.

Kenny Marshall