A man presented a court with a picture of himself enjoying a Spanish holiday at the moment he was accused of dropping a cigarette butt in Tenby.

Mark Ward, Becket Walk, Sheffield, was found not guilty of littering in Lower Frog Street after standing trial at Haverfordwest magistrates court on Monday, July 20.

Jeff Harries, prosecuting on behalf of Pembrokeshire County Council, said an enforcement officer approached a man on May 22, after spotting a cigarette end being discarded in the street.

Two letters were sent to the London address provided by the man who had identified himself as Mark Ward, when a £150 fixed penalty notice went unpaid.

The council’s enforcement officer told the bench there were two bins with ashtrays in the area where he spotted the alleged offence, adding the man was reluctant to give his details, and walked away muttering that he would not be paying.

Ward, who represented himself, stated the officer was mistaken, as he was in Spain at the time of the incident, and was four inches taller than the description of the offender.

He said: “I have always insisted that I was not even in the country at the time of the offence.”

Ward, 56, added he had never been to Tenby, and provided a photograph his wife had taken of him in Spain within minutes of the officer taking a picture of the alleged offender.

Flight details for May 18 and 30 were also handed to the bench, along with receipts showing his bank card had been used at the holiday location on that date.

Ward was unable to explain why a London address had been provided, as he had lived in his Sheffield home for 31 years.

He added that he was not the man pictured in the image taken by the enforcement officer.

Magistrates found Harries not guilty and dismissed the case.