A new Essex campaign is putting pressure on litter louts following the conviction of a Maldon man who was fined £757 for throwing a cigarette butt out of his vehicle.

Local authorities and fast food restaurants have come together to create ‘Love Essex’, a campaign fighting the scourge of people throwing litter out of their vehicle by highlighting recently increased fines for doing so.

Increases include Fixed Penalty Notices of up to £150 to fines of up to £2,500, plus costs upon conviction in a court.

Councillor Sue White, Chairman of the Council’s Community Services Committee, said: “This year, the anticipated cost of keeping Maldon District Council clean and tidy will be around £400,000 and picking up other people’s litter is an expensive part of that.

"It is literally throwing money away which should be spent on more important things.

"We have seen the negative impact of litter on nature and wildlife, as well as in our oceans on programmes such as Blue Planet.

“A lot of that litter such as bottles, food packaging, straws, cans and cups, has been wind-blown from further inland, eventually turning up on our coasts. It is now even more vital we all do whatever is necessary to save our environment, protect our wildlife and eradicate the littering bad habit.”

Banners will be displayed at fifteen KFC’s and three McDonald’s drive through restaurants and take-away packaging will also be branded with “Can you afford to throw £150 away?”

Essex littering costs are stacking up, now costing taxpayers over £17 million to keep the area clean.

With decreasing local authority budgets each year, the demand and pressure put on providing services such as street cleaning continues to rise