A new weapon in the battle against town centre litter has been unveiled by Ipswich Central – new bins for cigarette butts with a twist!

East Anglian Daily Times: Ipswich Central rangers are helping to keep the town centre tidy. Picture: IPSWICH CENTRALIpswich Central rangers are helping to keep the town centre tidy. Picture: IPSWICH CENTRAL (Image: Pagepix Ltd.07976 935738)

It is installing the new outdoor ashtrays at five places in the town centre that have become notorious for abandoned cigarette butts.

And as well as being somewhere to leave your fag-end, they also give smokers the chance to “vote” on a fun topic.

The new bins are being introduced as Ipswich Central launches its fifth #itsmystreet campaign for local businesses to take part in a series of activities to ensure the town is as clean and tidy as possible.

And alongside the bins there could be a clampdown on smokers who drop their cigarette butts on the pavements – they can be given a fixed penalty notice and ordered to pay up to £80 (£60 if paid within seven working days).

The bins, produced by environmental charity Hubbub, provide a fun ashtray by encouraging smokers to answer a particular question by popping their butt into one of the two slots under the fun, or provocative, poll.

Sophie Alexander, Ipswich BID Manager, said: “We walked around the town centre to look for five key areas with a high drop-rate of butts, and purchased bins for these locations.

“We know that these bins have been associated with a 46% drop in litter in other locations and hope to see the same in Ipswich.”

The bins were being unveiled on Friday as part of Ipswich Central’s #itsmystreet business clean-up, where businesses come together to help Ipswich Borough Council to keep the town centre clean and tidy for residents, shoppers and visitors.

Staff from various businesses across the town take part in #itsmystreet events ensuring that the area around their own business is tidy – staff from ABP have helped to give the Waterfront a clean-up.

They will be joined by Ipswich Central Rangers in their distinctive uniform – and by borough council officers who have the power to issue fixed penalty notices.

The borough is also trying to ensure the town centre is cleaned up and will be taking a tough stand against people littering.

A spokesman for the council said: “We look forward to working with Ipswich Central to reduce the cigarette litter in the town centre.”