'I was so distraught': Stoke-on-Trent couple given £400 littering fine for putting envelope in bin
Deborah Day tells Mark Gough she was 'distraught' after receiving the fine
A couple from Stoke-on-Trent have been given a £400 littering fine after one of them put an envelope in a public bin.
Stoke-on-Trent City Council hit Deborah and Ian Day with individual fines of £200 each after finding the envelope that contained their address.
Deborah, who lives on Dividy Road in Bentilee, Stoke-on-Trent, was on her way to work when she put an envelope in a bin on her street.
But council investigators say this breaches section 87 and 88 of the Environmental Protection Act of 1990 and constitutes as an offence of littering because household waste cannot be put in a public bin.
The 47-year-old hairdresser said: "I have received a letter from the council with a fine of £200 and my husband has received one too because apparently we’re both to blame. It is for an empty envelope inside a bin and the council has even attached a photo of the envelope which had my address on it in their letter."
"I was so distraught. I wasn't well anyway because I had Covid and I thought ‘what the hell is this?'".
"It's ridiculous - I go to work and I pay my taxes".
"It’s laughable, I’ve emailed and tried to appeal it but they still say we’ve committed an offence. I’m not paying it.
"They’ve even said they’ll increase the penalty to £2,500 and threatened court action if we don’t pay the £400. But I’ll go to prison first. All just for one envelope.
"The council is fining innocent people instead of cracking down on the people who actually do fly-tip.
"People throw settees and furniture out into the street and there’s rubbish all the way down to the field nearby. If I see rubbish on my street I pick it up and put it in the bin - it’s really annoyed me.”
A Stoke-on-Trent City Council spokesperson said: "Stoke-on-Trent City Council is maintaining its zero-tolerance approach to illegal dumping in our towns and with that comes enforcement. We are continuing with proactive patrolling and investigations.
"Once an area is under investigation and while evidence is being processed, we arrange for the removal of the waste with our cleansing teams. This case is currently under investigation with our Environmental Crime Team.
"Fixed Penalty Notices are issued as an alternative to prosecution proceedings in court. We are committed to working together to clean up our city and will enforce, where evidence supports, against waste offences.”
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