Litterbugs have been told to pay more than £4,000 after being caught dropping cigarette butts.

Seventeen people were fined for littering in and around the Medway area – including Gillingham, Chatham and Rainham.

In total, they were fined £4,318 for failing to pay fixed penalty notices for littering.

The offences took place between January and February this year.

Cllr Tris Osborne, portfolio holder covering enforcement, said: “We all have a responsibility to help keep Medway clean and tidy and the majority of residents and visitors do exactly that.

“We won’t let the small minority ruin the hard work people put in to keep Medway tidy, and we will continue to issue fines to anybody who is caught littering.”

The 17 cases were heard at Slough Magistrates’ Court on Monday, August 7.

The following were ordered to pay £254 for dropping a cigarette butt at Medway services in Gillingham during January:

Tommy Aves, 27, of Millmead Road, Margate; Mihaela Anreea Feraru, 27, of Livingstone Circus, Gillingham; Mariusz Fraszczak, 35, of Hendon Way, London; Mark Homes, 54, of Covey Hall Road, Snodland; Lisa Kidd, 28, of Dunstan Avenue, Westgate on Sea; Carina Mobey, 29, of Coombe Walk, Whitstable; Tony Muller, of Hastings Croft, Lower Stondon; Daniel Raper, 34, of Salmon Crescent, Minster; Jordan Simmonett, 22, of Vauxhall Avenue, Canterbury; Peter Snook, 69, of Manley Road, Bursledon; James Speedie, 47, of Avon Crescent, Glassford and Stephen Wooster, 48, of Addiscombe Gardens, Margate.

Roger Thomson, 53, of Luton Road, Chatham, and Ladislav Zubko, 32, of High Street, Chatham, were also fined £254 after being caught dropping a cigarette in Railway Street, Chatham, on January 4.

On the same day in Chatham, Michael Gibson, 70, of Stirling Close, Rochester, was caught along the High Street and Karmen White, 40, of Mary Court, Chatham, was spotted littering in Richard Street.

Natasha Smith, 41, of Birling Avenue, Rainham, was seen dropping a cigarette outside the park in De Mere Close, Rainham, on January 20.

To report littering in Medway, click here.

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

Enforcement agents patrol Medway’s high streets, greenspaces, supermarket car parks and other areas which have high levels of littering.