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Macey Megson, 21, comes to Hull once a week for training as part of her apprenticeship for which she gets paid £60 a week. On Wednesday, she dropped a cigarette butt outside the St Stephens Shopping Centre and was challenged by an enforcement officer.

Ms Megson said she was left distraught and offered to pick up the butt, but this was refused, and she was issued an on the spot fixed penalty notice (FPN).

The council said that littering of any kind, including throwing cigarette butts onto the floor, is selfish, anti-social and disrespectful.

Macey told HullLive: “I was walking into St Stephens, it was raining and really busy as a lot of people were heading inside, I did drop my cigarette and accidentally burnt my hand.

“I’m not usually one for littering but I did make a mistake, the woman came after me and my group of friends and asked us ‘which one of you was smoking?’

“I gave her my name and address… I said I was sorry and offered to go and pick it up and put it in the bin, she just said it was too late for that.”

The enforcement officer proceeded to issue Ms Megson with an FPN stating that she was being fined a minimum of £80 for dropping the cigarette if she pays within 10 days, more than her weekly wage

The fine rises to £100 if she pays within 14 days and if she fails to pay within this timeframe the notice threatens that she will be summoned to court.

Ms Megson says she feels that fine is unfair and claimed the fact that she wasn’t given the chance to clear up her litter suggests that it is just a money making scheme.

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She said: “The thing that really annoys me is that the cigarette never got cleared up in the end anyway, I wasn’t allowed to go and pick it up and the woman from the council didn’t go either.

“She wasn’t interested in sorting the litter out, she just wanted to make sure she got all my details so she could issue the fine.

“If I hadn’t been honest, what would she have been able to do? There were a group of us and a few of us were smoking, we were in a big crowd of people all heading indoors.

“It feels like I’ve been punished for being honest more than anything else.”

A spokesperson for Hull City Council said: “Littering of any kind, including throwing cigarette butts onto the floor, is selfish, anti-social and disrespectful to people who throw their litter away in the proper manner. It is also very damaging to the environment.

“More than 70 percent of streets are affected by smoking litter, particularly at busy spots like high streets or transport hubs.

“We want our city to look its best for everyone, which is why we should all do our bit to keep it clean. People who do not dispose of their litter will be fined in an effort to deter people from littering in the future.”

Additional reporting by Gregory Ford.

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