INCOME OR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT?

Like tens of millions of others I was a teenage smoker with no thought as to the environmental effects of discarding used cigarette ends whether on the street, in a park or from a car.  And like many converts who take up a new philosophy on daily life I am now and have been for many years a rabid anti smoker spreading the gospel when appropriate and enduring the occasional hostility when so doing.  So when I read of smoker fined £200 plus costs of £124 and £20 surcharge by colleagues in Carmarthen I did not have undue sympathy for him as he could have saved himself £269 or more if he had promptly paid the fixed penalty notice issued for his misdemeanour. However I wonder whether or not the local council had observed all the guidance issued by DEFRA with the purpose of improving our local environment to our common betterment or in this age of local councils` requirement, so they argue, to maximise income where they can, is the employment of environmental enforcement officers (litter wardens) fining litter bugs another method of making up for shortfalls in council tax receipts?