WE reported this week on a man who was landed with a £360 bill after throwing a cigarette butt onto the ground in front of a “council enforcement officer”.

The chap was asked to pick up his fag end by the officer but, perhaps foolishly, did not do so.

This landed him with a £50 on-the-spot fine (something on a par to a parking ticket) — but if you fail to pay up, your case eventually ends up in the courts.

As is very often the case in these court hearings (especially when it relates to parking tickets or litter penalties) the offending party was not present in court so the case was proved in his absence.

Our front page on Friday was most likely the first he heard about it.

So will this money ever be recovered? Or will his bill simply lay on file?

Are these litter bugs really being held to account? There is no rehabilitative element to the punishment for their “crime”.

If you are caught speeding, you are given the option of going on a speed awareness course (I have been on one myself).

Why not have something similar for people who drop litter? It could even be a stern talking to, take their details, give them a leaflet with some information on littering (which hopefully they wouldn’t chuck on the ground), and warn them that next time they are caught littering, they will be fined.

Before Christmas, we reported on a similar case, when a man ended up with a court bill of more than £900 for spitting out a piece of chewing gum.

Again, the man was not in court. It had been a few months since the original offence and when The Bolton News went to his address to see what he thought of this whopping bill, we were told by a person there that he had left the country.

Whether this was true is another matter — but it demonstrates how hard it is to track down these low-level “offenders”.

What amazes me is how these enforcement officers get people to give them their details in the first place. It must take a special skill.

What would happen if, for example, you were walking across Victoria Square, and for whatever reason you dropped a piece of litter, were challenged by an officer and refused to co-operate?

What if you just walked off? They can’t arrest you and they have no idea who you are. I am not advocating this approach — more playing devil’s advocate — but I am genuinely interested to know. Answers on a postcard (or tweet).