LITTERBUGS have been handed a total of 70 yellow cards in Bolton town centre, warning them they face fines if they are caught littering after June 1.

A team of enforcement officers has handed out an average of three cautions every day since starting the drive to clean up the town at the beginning of this month.

The officers warn offenders that time runs out in eight days, when the caution will be replaced with a £50 fine for anybody spotted dropping litter in Bolton.

Council bosses who ordered the clean-up hope that litterbugs caught this month will have taken note of the message and will not reoffend.

A spokesman said: "They seem to have been received very well by most people who have been given them.

"Some people were a little surprised but the whole point of the exercise is to warn people that they will face a fine so they do not do it again. It has been a very worthwhile exercise.

"I think it will act as a deterrent along with the publicity that has been generated by the campaign."

The council is now counting down to the date when fines will come into force. Thousands of the fixed penalty notices are being printed, ready for the patrol officers to hand them out to anybody they see dropping litter.

The notices will be coloured red and offer litterbugs the opportunity to pay up or face court where anyone aged 14 or older could receive a fine of up to £2,500.

The money will eventually find its way back into council funds for street cleaning.

"The town does need cleaning up and the council spends a lot of money to that end. But, after a Friday or Saturday night, the place does look a mess and that is what we want to stop," the spokesman added.