People who fail to use the new bins can be fined �25 for dropping butts

Now smokers who drop the butts, which can last for up to 12 years once discarded, are being targeted in a new litter crackdown.

The Watch Your Butt Day drive, which could see offenders fined �25, got underway as a wave of specially-designed bins were unveiled in Cardiff's Queen Street on Wednesday.

To counter fears that throwing cigarettes away is a fire risk, the bins incorporate a "stubbing out" section.

In August, it was revealed that cleaning up litter from Welsh roads was costing �35m each year and could be damaging the tourism industry.

Litter facts Smoking-related material accounts of 40 per cent of all litter Cigarette butts are not bio-degradable and contain toxic residue Cardiff Council has 250 litter bins in the city centre 25-30 tonnes of rubbish from bins and street sweepings are removed by Cardiff Council every week

Phil Robinson, deputy leader for the environment at Cardiff Council, said smoking litter was a unique problem.

"People who wouldn't drop litter are quite happy to drop cigarette butts," he said.

Karen Crimmins, from Keep Wales Tidy, added that pedestrians were not the only ones behind the problem.

"Car drivers are a particular cause, as they don't want the butts in their ash tray but are happy to throw them out of the window," she said.

Shoppers in Cardiff supported the introduction of the bins.

Smoker Nicola Martin, from Roath, Cardiff, admitted dropping butts occasionally, but said the ends did look disgusting on the streets.

Nicola Martin said cigarette butts were disgusting to see on the streets

"It is a fire risk - I would feel better stubbing them out," she said.

Les Thomas, from Porthcawl, said that seeing discarded cigarette butts annoyed him at work as well as in the street.

"I don't like smoking anyway - I hope people will use the bins," he said.

"They think they [the butts] don't look much, but they are."

Pauline Cole, a non-smoker from Pembrokeshire, supported the new bins, but questioned if people would actually use them.

"Whether it will make any difference I don't know - it is getting youngsters to use it," she said.

Since November last year, Cardiff Council has issued 1,500 fines for street litter offences.