A man who threw an empty fizzy drinks can out of his car window has been ordered to pay �150 after being caught by litter rangers travelling behind him.

Stephen Mogford, from Blaina, discarded the can as he was driving along Queen Street in Nantyglo near Ebbw Vale.

The moral of the story is that, sooner or later, you will carry the can

Hedley McCarthy, councillor

Two wardens from Blaenau Gwent council spotted the litter offence and stopped Mogford's car.

In the first case of its kind for the council, he was charged with dropping litter and ordered to attend Abertillery Magistrates court.

But, after failing to answer the court summons on two occasions, magistrates in the town found Mogford guilty in his absence.

They fined him �100 and ordered him to pay �50 costs.

Councillor Hedley McCarthy, the executive member for environmental services, said the council were determined to crack down on litter problems.

"Dropping litter and throwing things away in the street is a real cause of public concern," he said.

"It costs over �73,000 a year to clean up," he added.

Deterrent

Mr McCarthy said the council now employed people to make sure the culprits pay the consequences for their actions.

"It is regrettable that failing to do something as simple as putting litter in a bin, or taking it home, should prove so costly.

A can like this one was thrown from the window

"We hope that these prosecutions will help deter people and encourage everyone to think twice before using the streets as a rubbish bin.

"The moral to this story is that sooner or later you will carry the can," he added.

In September, the Keep Britain Tidy campaign carried out a survey which revealed 25 million tonnes of rubbish is dropped every year.

On average, each of us drops just under half a tonne of rubbish a year.

Blaenau Gwent council has employed two enforcement officers to help tackle this problem and safeguard the environment.