A DROPPED cigarette will cost one smoker more than £600.

Gary Barton discarded the butt on the ground outside The Gates shopping centre, Durham on Thursday, August 20 last year.

But he was spotted by a neighbourhood warden, who gave him a fixed penalty notice.

The police were called as Barton, 45, refused to give the warden his details.

The £80 fine remains unpaid and Durham County Council took Barton, of Oak Lea, Witton Gilbert, to court.

He was found guilty of littering in his absence at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (May 12) and magistrates handed down a £200 fine, as well as ordering Barton to pay £390 court costs and a £20 victim surcharge.