After a cigarette was tossed out of his car window in east London and he did not identify the driver to the authorities, a man has to pay £1,688.

The driver of a grey Jeep Commander threw the cigarette on the road on Faircross Parade on January 17 last year, and council enforcement officers in Barking saw it.

They found out that Shaheryaar Baig owned the car and gave him a Driver Identification Notice two days later.

But Baig did not give the details of the driver, even though the officer who handled the case talked to him about it several times.

The investigator even showed Baig a picture of the driver when the offence happened.

The case went to Barkingside Magistrates Court and Baig was accused of not complying with a Driver Identification Notice.

He admitted it on January 2 this year, but the judge made him pay a £300 fine, £1,268 costs to Barking and Dagenham Council and a £120 Victim Surcharge.

Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety, said: “We are very serious about littering and dumping rubbish in Barking and Dagenham.

“This person could have worked with our enforcement team, but he did not.

“He has to pay for the results of his failure to comply with the Notice, a costly lesson, which I hope he has learned from.”

A local council or another authority like a national park can issue a fixed penalty notice for littering. Other environmental offences are graffiti and putting up posters without permission.