A passenger who threw litter out of a parked vehicle in a fast food car park has been ordered to pay £200 by a court.

Tom McDonagh, 20, was spotted by Medway Council's environmental enforcement officers when he threw a cigarette out of the window of a silver Vauxhall Astra.

The officers issued him with a fixed penalty notice for the offence on the Medway City Estate on 10 June last year.

The fixed penalty notice is set at £80 and this is discounted to £60 if paid within ten days.

But because McDonagh, of Ordnance Street, Chatham, failed to pay the fine he was summonsed to appear before Medway Magistrates’ Court on Monday, 11 January.

And magistrates ordered him to pay a total of £200 including costs - £140 more than if he had paid the fine within ten days.

Cllr Rehman Chishti, the Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Enforcement, said: "Medway Council works hard to ensure Medway is a clean and safe place.

"We want everyone that lives and works in Medway to feel proud of their environment. Most people dispose of their litter responsibly, but there is a small minority of people who do not.

"Littering any public area is an anti-social activity and our officers will hand out fixed penalty notices to those that do this.

"Ironically, if this man had actually paid his fine within ten days then he would now have been £140 better off. But he chose not to, ended up in court and now has to pay £200.

"However, the only way to avoid a financial penalty altogether for littering is to make sure you use bins. I would urge people to think of others and keep public places tidy."