Smokers caught dropping their cigarette butts on the floor at a motorway service station have been fined more than £7000 between them.

In total, 25 people were seen dropping the litter on the floor and leaving it at the Medway Moto Services on the M2, near Gillingham.

The offences happened between January and February this year.

Several residents from the Medway Towns and other parts of Kent were among those to be fined following cases heard at East Berkshire Magistrates’ Court in Slough on September 4.

They included: Andy Beaumont, of Thomas Wyatt Way, Wrotham; Dominic Browne, 47, of Boundary Road, Chatham; Adam Gordon, 34, of Midsummer Road, Snodland; Luke Reeder, 35, of Crosier Court, Upchurch; Daniel Robb, 40, of Bellevue Avenue, Ramsgate; Richard Vinicombe, 53, of Fort Pitt Street, Chatham; Lisa Cansdale, 42, of Newnham Close, Gillingham; and Luke Reeder, 35, of Harold Avenue, Gillingham.

All were ordered to pay £300 after failing to pay a fixed penalty notice.

To report littering in Medway, click here.

Cllr Tris Osborne, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder covering Enforcement, said: “We all have a responsibility to tidy up after ourselves, and it is not acceptable to litter.

“Lots of people work hard to keep Medway clean and tidy, and we will not let a small minority ruin that. We will continue to ensure that fines are issued to anyone who is caught littering in Medway.”

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 allows for authorised officers to issue fixed penalty notices on any land the public has access to.

Medway Council has litter enforcement agents patrolling high streets, greenspaces, supermarket car parks and other areas which have high levels of littering.