Free pocket ashtrays with your Herald

Use the coupon in this week's Herald (September 20) to get your free pocket ashtray, available at the outlets below on a first come, first served basis.

The newspaper has teamed up with Worthing and Adur councils in a scheme funded by Encams, formerly Keep Britain Tidy.

Council officials now have the power to issue instant 75 fines to people causing smoking litter. Stubbing a cigarette out in the street or throwing it from your car window is now an offence.

Council spokesman Paul Willis said: "We have noticed that bus stops, taxi ranks and outside railway stations are particular problem areas.

"We will be targeting these places with street ashtrays and our whole campaign is to educate, not issue fines. But we also want people to report persistent offenders and if those offenders won't respond to a polite approach, we will take a tougher line."

Paul, who writes the weekly Greenwatch column, said: "We are not being anti-smoking or telling people how to live their lives. But we are anti-litter and we are asking people to dispose of the cigarette ends responsibly.

"Cigarette ends contain an unhealthy chemical cocktail and they take many years to disappear from the environment. They also get into cracks and crannies and are difficult to get up."

Council staff say particular problems have been reported at level crossings, road junctions and parks.

Adur street scene projects officer Lesley Hunt is one of the council staff planning the "hearts and minds" offensive to try to get the message across.

She said: "Once you are aware of the problem, then you tend to notice the areas where cigarette ends are building-up. A lot of people don't realise they are doing it and this is what we are trying to get across.

"We also want to provide solutions, hence the stub-it-out pouches and the cigarette litter bins."

Pocket ashtrays are available at: Worthing Herald office; Broadwater News, Broadwater Boulevard; Supernews, Guildbourne Centre; Martins, Strand Parade, Goring; Denyer News, Goring Road, Goring; The Quick Stop, Railway Approach; League of Friends shop, Worthing Hospital.