LITTER louts have been left facing a bill of more than £10,000 after dropping their rubbish in the city.
In the last eight months, 13 people have been taken to court for littering with their fines and costs totalling £10,207.
And this is in addition to more than 3,000 others who were given-on-the-spot fines for littering last year, but didn't go to court.
Richard Antcliff, from Community Protection, a partnership between the police and city council, defended the use of fines to keep Nottingham tidy.
"There is absolutely no excuse for discarding rubbish on our streets," he said. "Whether it's a takeaway wrapper or a cigarette end, it cost the council taxpayer a significant amount to clean up our streets and that's just not fair.
"It's understandable that people might see the level of fines and costs awarded and think that it's a vast sum of money.
"However when it gets to court, the charge increases largely due to legal costs."
There are 2,200 bins across the city, with a bin approximately every 14 yards in the city centre.
And people who spoke to the Post said they thought people should take more pride in the city.
Richard Menck, 22, of Derby Road, said: "Littering's not on and I think having a tidy city should be enough of a reason not to do it.
"I hate having to avoid chips and chewing gum and things after people have dropped them the night before."
And Julie Barnes, 48, from Sneinton, said: "Even with the fines, it's still not putting people off doing it.
"I think if they get caught, they should have to go out with the people that clean the streets to see what it's like."
The cost of littering is a £50 fine, which increases to £75 if not paid within ten days.
City council leader Jon Collins said the authority spends approximately £3.6 million a year on cleaning the streets of Nottingham.
He added: "Keeping a large and thriving city like Nottingham, clean, is a mammoth task that costs a significant amount of money.
"We're very proud of our city and won't tolerate people who don't respect it."
