Prague - As of July 1 you can be fined up to CZK 30,000 for spitting out a chewing gum, not lifting your dog´s exrecement or dropping a cigarette and other ways of littering.
Prague city hall decided to clamp down on those dirtying the city of Prague by issuing a decree on littering. The city hall authorities argue that this penalty system for littering has been in force in other European cities for years and has proven to be very successful.
Police can issue a fine up to CZK 1,000 right on the spot, or send the offender to city authorities where he or she will end up paying much more.
Since last week Prague police issued 161 fines, collecting CZK 63.4 thousand (EUR 2,680).
"In total, we have reported 525 offences," informed Prague police spokeswoman Radka Bredlerová. In 329 cases policemen only "lectured" the offenders.
Read more: Littering fines to make Prague a cleaner city
Food and cigarettes
The most frequent offence was littering. Cigarette butts were the corpus delicti in 253 cases, in 56 cases food was thrown away. Forty-six persons were caught spitting out a chewing gum.
Prague police also caught a number of dog owners who did not throw away their dog´s mess.
There were also two companies that left some garbage and other construction materials in the streets.
Read more: Czech companies discover garbage means money
"There were sixteen cases when posters hanged illegally in wrong places," added Bredlerová.
Prague police are also authorised to fine anyone vomitting or urinating in public.
