SMOKERS and litterbugs throughout North Somerset will receive an instant £75 fine if they refuse to pick up their used cigarettes and rubbish.

SMOKERS and litterbugs throughout North Somerset will receive an instant £75 fine if they refuse to pick up their used cigarettes and rubbish.

A total of 30 officers have been trained by the local authority to give offenders fixed penalty notices if they fail to respond to polite requests’ to pick up their litter.

The enforcers, who will be using proportionate approach’, can use number plate recognition to trace offenders who refuse to give their details to officers and drive off.

They will have the power to check addresses but will not have the power of detention.

A council spokesman confirmed there has been a noticeable increase in litter outside the licensed premises across North Somerset since the smoking ban came into force on July 1.

The authority is now in the final stages of identifying litter hotspots’ across the district where officers can concentrate their efforts.

Town Centre Manager Steve Townsend will also be taking part in enforcing the ban on Weston’s High Street, potentially one of the hotspots.

He said: “I’m happy to be helping with this as I think it will make Weston a much nicer place to be.”

The partnership is currently working with the council to identify places for smoking bins in the town centre, at a cost of £70 each, where nicotine addicts can stub out their smokes without littering the town’s pavements.