Basildon councillors are impressed by the innovative littering scheme introduced by neighbouring Southend.

As part of a series of new initiatives introduced by Southend BID, ballot bins have been placed around the town to discard cigarette ends.

The twenty-one ballot bins designed specifically to dispose of cigarette ends in a more imaginative way have been installed in the High Street and on the seafront.

Basildon councillor Andrew Gordon, vice-chairman of the housing and community committee, welcomed the idea.

He said: “Yes, I’ve seen those voting boxes, they’re quite cool aren’t they?

“It’s always a positive thing to look at ways people can dispose of their rubbish. There is on-oing work in the town, it needs some TLC, this could be something to look into.

“It’s definitely something I would like to look at. So far no one has formally expressed an opinion on the matter but there’s no reason why we can’t look into it as part of the wider re-development of the town.

“I’m not sure whether they’re banned now but they used to have CCTV cameras that had speakers attached and they would shout at people when they dropped their litter. Great idea.”

Mr Gordon said he personally finds it very frustrating that people can’t dispose of their rubbish in the correct manner. He added: “It really ticks me off, it’s just saying that you don’t have any value in your community.”

The issue would have to be raised in an environment and regeneration committee meeting as part of the current regeneration plans for the town centre.

Mr Gordon said: “There’s one coming up soon so I will raise it in the agenda, it’s definitely something we can include.”

Southend BID is the Business Improvement District company, which aims to improve the district for those who work, visit and live in the town. Their ballots are an innovative and exciting apparatus that has yet to be adopted anywhere else.

The containers are BID branded and brightly coloured for maximum visibility and presence and has become a big conversation topic in town and on social media.

Questions range from whether Stormzy or Skepta is the best rapper to who will reign in TV show Game of Thrones.

Jamie Oliver famously features on the Pier Piazza’s bin as part of his Instagram story encouraging visitors to vote for him in the who’s the sexiest, Jamie or Jimmy, poll. The famous Essex chef uploaded a video message urging “anyone in Southend” to make their way to the end of the pier and vote for him.

This is part of one of the three initiatives introduced by BID to tackle littering in Southend.