Smokers are being urged to stop throwing toxic cigarette butts down the drain

Smokers are being urged to stop putting toxic plastic cigarette butts down the drain because of their drastic impact on marine life.

They are the most prevalent form of litter in the UK and studies show that just one butt per litre of water is highly toxic to fish, say campaigners at Keep Britain Tidy.

Most people do not realise butts contain plastic and they can escape water and sewage filtration systems and pour into the sea, campaigners say.

The butts, made from cellulose acetate, are a bigger contaminant of the world’s rivers and oceans than straws, cotton buds and drinks stirrers.

Research for Keep Britain Tidy shows that about 3.6million smokers admit to having dropped a cigarette down a drain in the past month.

Only 38 per cent of them realise cigarette filters contain plastic and are a pollution threat.

Following the Daily Mail’s Turn the Tide on Plastic campaign, the charity is launching its Flicking Blue Murder billboards across the country this week.

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton, said: ‘We need to ensure smokers understand that this has a direct and often drastic impact on wildlife.’

With research shows that about 3.6million smokers admit to having dropped a cigarette down a drain in the past month, the charity is launching its Flicking Blue Murder billboards across the country this week