Three Kent authorities imposed more than 5,700 penalties for cigarette littering last year.

Top of the list was Dartford Borough Council, which issued 2,723 fines in 2018 and second was Swale Borough Council, which imposed 1, 496.

Thanet District Council came third, with 1,482.

The three come second, fifth and sixth in the country.

The figures follow a Freedom of Information request to 192 district and borough councils in England by vaping kit providers Vapourcore. A total of 180 replies came back.

The remaining Kent councils ranked for the amount of fixed penalty notices they imposed were:

11th out of 192: Tunbridge Wells Borough Council 1,103.

15th: Dover District Council, 615.

20th: Canterbury City Council, 505.

23rd: Maidstone Borough Council, 427.

24th: Ashford Borough Council, 398.

39th: Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council, 45.

42nd: Folkestone and Hythe District Council, 35.

60th: Gravesham Borough Council, 17.

Sevenoaks District Council imposed no fines for cigarette littering in 2018.

Overall, the study found more than half of England's councils issued fixed penalty notices in 2018, equating to a total 29,379.

Nationally, Burnley Borough Council imposed the most FPNs, with 3,174.

A total of 4,742 penalties were left unpaid and led to court action. This was for about 16% of all fines.

The Kent councils with the most cases of unpaid fines going to court were Swale (509), Thanet (498), Ashford (168) and Dartford (155).

Nationally, they came third, fourth, sixth and eighth in the study, respectively.

It is estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded each year around the world and they are believed to be the most pervasive form of plastic pollution.

As well as plastic, the butts are filled with thousands of toxic chemicals, including arsenic, lead and nicotine.

This is harmful to marine life – one cigarette can cause one litre of water to be toxic.

The environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy launched #BinTheButt, a national campaign against cigarette litter.

As part of the Local Environment Quality Survey of England for 2017/18, the most common littered items were found to be cigarette butts.

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