Brighton bus held up amid attempt give smoker a fine

The Brighton and Hove City Council officer jumped on the bus at Churchill Square in a bid to slap a woman with a £150 fine after she dropped a cigarette butt on the nearby pavement.

The city centre bus was brought to halt with passengers onboard amid a stand-off between the officer, the offender who refused to give her name, and a man filming the incident.

Eventually, a representative from Brighton and Hove Bus Company got on board the bus to tell the officer that "the vehicle is not staying here", bringing the deadlock to an end.

The officer got off the bus without issuing the fine.

The council says the video "clearly shows" the difficulties facing environmental enforcement officers when people "simply commit a crime then refuse to take responsibility".

But the person who filmed the incident said the council is "ignoring guidelines and legislation" by not giving the alleged offender an opportunity to pick the litter up.

The video was posted by FritzMedia earlier this month and is titled Litter Enforcement Humiliated (Brighton City Centre).

The clip begins with the council official attempting to get the name of the alleged offender.

The witness claims the woman was pursued for "several minutes" after picking the cigarette butt up.

The enforcement officer says: "If you refuse to give me your information, I will have to contact the police."

The woman replies that she has a doctor's appointment.

"They won't come out, just get on the bus and ignore him," the man filming the incident said.

"I'll just ask the bus driver to wait," the official responds.

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During the stand-off on the bus, the official is branded "scum" as he holds up the bus.

The man who filmed the incident showed the city council "regularly ignores" Defra guidelines when issuing Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs).

Defra guidelines state that an offender should "be given the chance to pick up the litter before a fixed penalty is issued".

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: “We have reviewed our officer’s bodycam and also spoken to him about the incident.

"His body camera and the Youtube footage clearly show how difficult carrying out enforcement is when people simply commit a crime then refuse to take responsibility for it and become abusive.

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“The officer followed the offender onto the bus with the permission of the driver after she refused to provide her name and address.

"The interaction on the bus took longer than expected due to continual interruptions and abuse our officer was receiving while trying to carry out his job.

“We do try to warn offenders of fines, but this is not always possible once they have thrown away their litter and walked away with no intention of picking it up and binning it responsibly.”