The Town of Cottesloe Council has amended a local law that will allow smoking to be banned on the world-famous Cottesloe Beach.

Sally Pyvis. Photo: Peter Milne.

Smokers could eventually be slapped with a $100 fine for smoking at the beach.

Councillor Sally Pyvis said most people did not realise there was already a WA law that banned people from smoking betweent the life saving flags on Perth beaches.

The new laws will see smoking banned anywhere on the beach.

Cr. Pyvis proposed the motion, which was passed last year, and last night the entire council voted to amend the local law that will allow the new ban to be enforced.

“I swim at the beach every day and I am tired of seeing cigarette butts on the beach that are not picked up by the mechanised beach cleaner because they are too small,” Cr Pyvis said.

Managing director of marine charity Tangaroablue Heidi Taylor said animals were also in danger of developing illnesses from discarded cigarette butts.

Mrs Taylor said many people thought cigarettes were made of cardboard, but they are actually made of plastic. She said they could disrupt an animal’s endocrine system and affect fertility.

“This means that in the long term, if you get animals ingesting these chemicals, it can actually make it harder for them to reproduce,” Mrs Taylor said.

The ban will be in place by next summer.