John Fraser admitted he was embarrassed to be caught out
John Fraser was fined for dropping a cigarette butt(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
A man caught dropping a cigarette butt in Liverpool city centre admitted he “made a mistake” but said he was left feeling intimidated by the issuing officer. John Fraser, 41, was outside the World Museum on William Brown Street earlier this week when he was stopped by a Liverpool Council enforcement official.
Mr Fraser, who is looking to move to the city from Birmingham with his partner, had been on the phone when he dropped the offending piece of litter. This landed him with a £150 on the spot fine.
However, Mr Fraser alleged that after paying the penalty for his accidental misdemeanour, the officer began to follow him and his partner as they walked back to their Airbnb at Pembroke Place. He told the ECHO how he felt “intimidated” by the presence of the enforcement operative.
He said: “It was embarrassing because I don’t do that kind of thing. I had a handful of them in my pocket and I was just stressed and I made a mistake.
“I paid the fine, no problem and thought that was the end of it. I requested the CCTV to see where he was filming me from and then he started following me.
“I was with my girlfriend at the time and I was a bit intimidated. We love the city and I was ashamed to have done it.
“I picked it up and some other litter and told the officer I’d made a mistake.” Last summer, the local authority confirmed it had contracted the services of Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) to operate throughout the city to address illegal littering, fly-tipping and dog fouling.
The company already works with 31 local authorities including Manchester and Birmingham. According to data released to the ECHO via a Freedom of Information request last November, the bulk of tickets issued in the first three months of operation were for those caught flicking cigarette butts to the ground, with 465 identified.
In June 2025, Liverpool Council confirmed it was ramping up the amount that those caught flouting the rules pay. The charge for dropping litter increased to £150, up from £80, with an early payment option of £100 if paid within 14 days.
A tiered approach has been applied towards fly-tipping offences while breaches of public space protection orders (PSPO) are also subject to harsher penalties. Mr Fraser said he had been on the phone to family at the time he dropped the butt and had thrown it to the ground in a moment of stress.
John Fraser was fined for dropping a cigarette butt(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
He explained how he became worried after paying the fine that the situation could escalate. He said: “We’re looking to move here and I was looking out of the window when we got back and he was still there.
“We were making our way back here and I started to record it, I actually thought he was going to swing for me. I told him I’d paid it and I just asked for the CCTV footage but he continued to follow us, I didn’t want anything to happen.
“I always put any used butts in my pocket until I find a bin, he just wanted to issue the fine. We want to move here, we love the city, it’s beautiful, it’s clean, the only saving grace was he wasn’t a Scouser himself.
“If I’d been on my own, I’d have sprinted away.” A Liverpool Council spokesperson said: “Cigarette ends should be completely extinguished and thrown into a bin.
“If there is no bin in the immediate vicinity, they should be held on to and placed in the next available bin. Cigarettes should never be thrown on to the floor or into drains – this is littering.
“Littering laws in Liverpool are no different to those across the country. Cigarette ends are made of plastic and do not biodegrade, meaning that they could release toxic chemicals into the ecosystem for a long time, damaging the environment.
“Anyone caught littering in Liverpool will be issued a £150 Fixed Penalty Notice, which is reduced to £100 if paid within 10 days.”