Should Wetherspoon clean the highstreet up?

[Jonny69]

Every weekend after a Friday and Saturday night the highstreet outside and around Wetherspoon is left littered with cigarette ends because they push their drunken smoking scum customers out on the road to smoke. It's really unpleasant to walk through and smells disgusting, plus if I have the misfortune to have to walk through of an evening I've got to weave my way through drunk shaved-head yobs out on the street.

I think it makes the highstreet a really unpleasant place to be, all weekend. Shouldn't Wetherspoon have to clean this mess up instead of leaving it to the council to do on a Monday morning?

[Pickers]

Hmmm a noble post and cause to be sure, but I just love playing devils advocate ;)

Whilst I can agree that the street shouldnt be littered, and is really unpleasant to walk through smoking drunken youths and lecherous old men (and women); but surely its not wetherspoon's fault? Government imposed the ban on smoking in establishments, government have added £££ in tax to try and limit smokers; surely they should use that money to clean up the streets, somehow, or subsidise spoonies to put some cigarette bins outside or clean up.

You know what the answer is dont you... ban smoking outright ;) A confrontational and contentious statement - discuss! :D

[Dymetrie]

cigarette bins

I think that this is the important point.

Does the Weatherspoons in question have cigarette bins/litter bins outside?

If not then they should be responsible for clearing up the mess. If yes then they have provided the smokers with a means of acceptably disposing of their cigarette ends and cannot be held responsible for the inability of their customers to use them.

Alternatively, it's the Government's fault for curtailing the human rights of smokers :D

[Jonny69]

Does the Weatherspoons in question have cigarette bins/litter bins outside
There is one small one out front but they have a smoking area out the back of the pub. Why let them hoard outside the entrance where they are a nuisance and make a mess? They don't let them do that at the other pubs.

[Dymetrie]

AHA!

Further information :)

The pub should be encouraging its customers to use the dedicated area instead, I know that I certainly prefer a nice beer garden rather than standing on the street (not always possible with a lot of city pubs though).

Maybe, as suggested elsewhere, write to Weatherspoons to highlight your concerns. It may not have any effect, but it could well be worth a try. :)

[A Place of Light]

Aren't they obliged to keep the area their frontage as clean as possible anyway?

[Del Lardo]

If you are going to write to the Weatherspoons a better way to phrase it would be that you wanted to go inside to spend money but didn't want to walk through a wall of smokers to get in so went elsewhere. Far more likely to get their attention ;)

Is throwing a cigarette butt on the floor considered littering from a legal standpoint? If so then I would have thought Wetherspoons could be liable, my local high st McDonalds used to send loads of their staff out for 30 minutes before they opened at 7am to pick up all the rubbish from punters the night before as there was a council inspection of the area at 7am and if they found McDonalds rubbish the restaurant was fined.

[Fayshun]

Is throwing a cigarette butt on the floor considered littering from a legal standpoint?

Yes, my sister got a fixed panalty notice for fly tipping through the post for flicking a fag butt out the window of my folks car.

[Lomster]

Get fined for littering in Banbury if fag butts aren't put in bins.

[Glaucus]

Don't fast food shops already have to clean the streets or pay? can't they use the same or similar law on any business.
Or do pubs already pay for cleaning, I know their license pays towards policing.

[Kitten]

When I worked for MacD's during my A-Levels, I often got sent outside to clean up or else we got fined for any food wrappers etc that were dropped on the floor outside the premises.