A teenager caught littering Telford Town Park on two separate occasions has been fined a total of £200.

Damien Float was brought before Telford magistrates after failing to pay two £50 fixed penalty notices after he was spotted throwing down an empty glass and a bottle.

The 19-year-old’s actions also left him yesterday with court costs of £300 as well as a £15 victim surcharge.

Float, of Birchmore, Brookside, admitted depositing glass on the ground and in the lake near to Southwater Square at Telford Town Park on September 12.

He further admitted dropping an empty glass into the same lake on September 17.

Telford & Wrekin Council said it was the first time they had prosecuted someone for two littering offences committed on different occasions and witnessed by community support officers.

David Silcock, chairman of the magistrates bench, told Float: “We have heard from the prosecution from the council of the impact this has on the environment, it’s catastrophic.”

He said there was also the risk of a child falling on the glass and seriously injured themselves.

Float was accused of “sticking his head in the sand” by ignoring two letters from the council about the fixed penalty notices.

Mr Silcock said: “It has been quite a costly exercise.”

Mrs Lorraine Fowkes, prosecuting, said on September 12 community support officer Ann Moore saw Float breaking a glass bottle, causing it to shatter on decking and drop into the lake.

Float, who works with his father on an apprenticeship doing tattoos, was issued with the fixed penalty notice, which was not paid.

Mrs Fowkes said on September 17 another CSO Andrew Dean saw Float discarding a pint glass into the lake and issued him with a fixed penalty notice, which the teenager failed to pay.

Mrs Fowkes said whilst it was easy to view the offences as minor when taken into isolation they had an impact on the environment.

Float, who was not represented, said he had nothing to say about the offence.

By Lisa Rowley