THREE litter bugs have received heavy fines after failing to pay up when they were caught dropping cigarettes.

Stacey Ransom of Phyllis Avenue, Peacehaven; Michael Conn of Woodland View, Holsworthy; and Muhammad Noorani of Hartley Road, Croydon, were caught by enforcement officers.

They were all spotted dropping cigarette litter: Ransom in Queens Road, Brighton; Conn in Goldstone Villas, Hove; and Noorani in Dyke Road, Brighton.

Each was handed a £75 fixed penalty last summer.

But after failing to pay up, Brighton and Hove City Council took them to court. The trio did not attend Brighton Magistrates' Court and in their absence each was ordered to pay a fine of £440 plus £450 costs and a £44 victim surcharge.

The defendants had the opportunity to plead guilty by post which would have resulted in a less severe penalty.

It is the first time offenders have been taken to court after the start of a new enforcement contract last year using private enforcement officers.

Councillor Gill Mitchell, chairwoman of the Brighton and Hove City Council’s environment committee, said: "The council is taking all kinds of littering extremely seriously.

"Taking someone to court is a last resort but anyone ignoring a fixed penalty notice (FPN) leaves themselves at risk of prosecution which could result in a hefty bill and a criminal record."

The Argus revealed the city council has collected £36,000 in fines from people dropping cigarettes retaining a private firm in February.

The 480 fines, which cost offenders £75 a time, account for more than half of the money raised by the initiative - with only one fine paid for dog-fouling, five for littering and 21 for fly-tipping since the contract started.

The enforcement firm 3GS will keep two-thirds of what they have collected with the remainder going to the council, who will use the money to install CCTV cameras to reduce fly tipping.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald, Conservative group leader on Brighton and Hove City Council, welcomed the number of fines handed out.

He said: “I’ve always been exceptionally keen on keeping the streets clean and investing to ensure the streets remain clean, because that is what people want to see.”