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The prosecutions were brought by Sunderland City Council and the fines imposed at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court.

Magistrates heard that each defendant had been seen by members of the City Council neighbourhood enforcement team dropping a cigarette end and then walking away.They had all been issued with £150 Fixed Penalty Notices but failed to pay despite several reminder letters and their cases were taken to court.

When they failed to appear, the cases were proven in their absence.In six cases, defendants were each fined £220, ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £34 and costs of £235.

They are:

*John Young, of Hendon Burn Avenue, Hendon;*Lisa Simpson, of Padgate Road, Pennywell ;

*Kelly Phuprate, of Marley Crescent, Marley Potts;

Tony Hoggarth, of Gilhurst Grange, Sunderland;

The cases were dealt with at South Tyneside Magistrates Court

*Faihad Almutari, of West Wear Street;

*And Samantha Lewis, of Honeysuckle Avenue, South Shields.

A further three defendants were fined £200, as well as being ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £34 and costs of £235.

They are:

*Francesco Soro of Wiltshire Road, Witherwack;

*And Suzanne Martin and Georgia Jolley, both of John Williamson Street, South Shields.

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Deputy leader of Sunderland City Council and cabinet member for environment, Coun Claire Rowntree, warned anyone who did not dispose of their cigarettes properly would face enforcement action and could end up in court.

"Anyone who fails to dispose of their cigarette ends responsibly risks a fixed penalty notice of £150 and being taken to court if they ignore the warning letters and fail to pay up,” she said.

"We know that the environment is very important to our residents who want to live in a clean green city, so we won't hesitate to take action where we see people acting irresponsibly in this way. Magistrates also take a dim view of smokers who litter our city as can be seen from these fines."

In the last two years 835 Fixed Penalty Notices have been issued for the offence of littering in Sunderland.

Nine smokers fined after ignoring fixed penalty notices for dumping cigarette ends