Almost 300 litter louts in Grantham have been issued with on-the-spot fines as part of South Kesteven District Council's continuing crackdown on enviro-crime.

In its first seven months the council's enforcement team has issued 331 fixed penalty notices across the district - with 295 of those in Grantham.

Most of the £100 notices issued across South Kesteven were for dropping cigarette butts, two were handed out for dropping takeaway packaging, two for general littering and one for dropping chewing gum.

Income from fixed penalty notices goes towards the cost of maintaining the district's higher street standards.

In 35 cases where the fixed penalty notice was not paid, the offenders have been charged with littering under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Section 87 states that it is a criminal offence for a person to drop, throw down, leave or deposit litter in a public place.

More cases are awaiting decisions. The latest defendants to appear before magistrates were: Tina Barratt, of Mill Lane, Great Ponton; Tom Jackson-Spooner, of Eagle Drive, Sleaford; Sharna Bullimore, of Falcon Court, Grantham; Kazim Ertunch, of St Pauls Street, Stamford; Sharna Fenton, of Larch Close, Grantham; Stephen Cuthbert, of Norton Street, Grantham; Horvath Laszione, of Sandringham Close, Stamford; and Damien Riley, of High Lane, Huddersfield. None of the defendants entered a plea and each was fined £220 with £83 costs and a £30 victim surcharge. Caroline Selby, of St Peter's Hill, Grantham, who did not enter a plea, was fined £100 for littering and £120 for providing false/inaccurate address details when issued with a fixed penalty notice, plus £127 costs and a £30 victim surcharge. Christopher Hallam, of Countethorpe Road, Creeton, entered a guilty plea and was fined £40 and told to pay £83 costs and a £30 victim surcharge. SKDC's Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Dr Peter Moseley, said: "We are the only district council in the country to pledge to maintain street cleanliness at a level higher than the national requirement. "Through the work of our enforcement team I believe we are starting to see a reduction in the amount of litter on the streets, especially in Grantham town centre. "We spend large amounts of money each year cleaning the streets and collecting litter and waste that has been dumped. "The aim is to encourage people who live, work and visit the district to help keep it clean for everyone to enjoy and to bring to book those who refuse to take responsibility for their action." Litter bins can be found across South Kesteven, many of which have cigarette stubbing plates. Every effort is made to place bins where they are most needed, such as in town centres, parks and open spaces. "Where there is no litter bin, we ask people to please act responsibly and take their litter home," adds Cllr Dr Moseley. "Smokers can extinguish their cigarettes on the floor and place them in the next available litter bin."