Discarded cigarette butts can kill marine wildlife

Surfers Against Sewage claims cigarette butts are turning the coastline into a death trap for birds, fish and mammals who mistake the butts for food.

Richard Hardy from the No Butts On the Beach Campaign said smokers must be made aware of the problem.

He said the filters can leak toxic chemicals in to the stomachs of the wildlife, which can kill them.

"I think the pubic will be shocked to know how much damage a cigarette butt can cause."

Enforcement problems

Mr Hardy explained a similar campaign was successful in Sydney, Australia and in Bournemouth.

He said: "We would like to see no butts on the beach at places like Skegness and Mablethorpe - it is easily done with signage and a no-smoking policy."

David Lloyd of East Lindsey District Council said it is something that concerns them - but added that seven of their beaches are on the Good Beach Guide.

"We do have good standards of beach cleanliness - and that is why we have got so many awards."

He said Bournemouth has seven miles of beaches and spends �6m on beach management, while East Lindsey has 1.7 million square metres of beach, meaning it would be too expensive to enforce a smoking ban.

"It would be dangerous to bring in a by-law that would be very difficult to enforce.

"We are asking people to be considerate in the way they use our beaches."