A COMPANY is giving away wall-mounted ash trays to businesses as part of a campaign to keep town centres free of cigarette butts.

Pain in the Butt, of Lion Business Park, Dering Way, Gravesend, says it has already fitted almost 700 ash trays on walls of businesses across north Kent.

Marketing director Lenny Andreou said: “We are giving them away like they are going out of fashion.

“The reception from businesses has been phenomenal.

“What we are looking to do once we have established the volume per area, is to then seek sponsorship for charities or businesses that want to promote their services.

He added: “Ninety per cent of people say they don’t have any means or facility where they can throw away cigarette butts.

“So we set up a business to find a way in which people when walking around the high street or town centre can dispose of their cigarette butts safely and neatly.”

People who drop cigarette butts in Gravesend can face a minimum fine of £75 for littering.

Last month three women were each fined £175 for dropping cigarette butts on the floor of the town centre.

According to Pain in the Butt, 122 tonnes of cigarette related rubbish is dropped in the UK annually and is the country’s worst litter problem.

The company says cigarette butts take up to 12 years to decompose and have even been found in the stomachs of birds, fish and whales.

Councillor John Cubitt, portfolio holder for community safety and environment at Gravesham Council, said: “I think in essence anything that helps to keep the streets clean is helpful and if businesses are prepared to keep them in good order, then I am very supportive of it.

“Anything to keep streets clean of litter and encourage people to dispose of their cigarettes properly is a benefit to everybody.

“All power to their elbow.”

For more information about the company visit paininthebutt.co.uk