Cigarette smoking related litter remains by far the most prevalent item of litter on the streets of the Business Improvement District (BID).

It is also the most difficult type of litter to collect and remove, getting in between paving slabs and lodging in grills. People seen dropping cigarette butts in public places are liable to a fixed penalty notice of £75. Better Bankside has been targeting cigarette litter over the last 4 ½ years with a range of measures.

The Better Bankside Cleaning Team visits 56 locations every day throughout the BID. The majority of these places are outside businesses, in busy and crowded places and near licensed premises where smokers collect. We have introduced specialist equipment to help pick up cigarette litter including Overton and Glutton street vacuum cleaners.

Our Rangers distribute smoking pouches ('Stubbis') to smokers outside their offices and we have installed 'Buttcatchers' to lampposts along the riverside at Southwark Bridge and also at Stoney Street and Park Street by the Borough Market.