Woman fined £150 for littering after feeding sausage roll to pigeon
‘When I got home my three-year-old asked me to take down the bird feeder from the garden ‘because nanny got into trouble’ for feeding them’
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Your support makes all the difference.A grandmother was handed a £150 fine after feeding part of a sausage roll to a pigeon.
Sally-Ann Fricker, 54, said she tore off a corner of the snack and threw it to the bird while she was out shopping with her children in Bath, Somerset, on Tuesday.
According to her daughter Toni Bradley, she was approached just moments later by an enforcement officer who handed her the fixed penalty notice for littering.
In viral video footage of the incident shared on Facebook, Ms Fricker can be heard saying: “Because I’ve put a bit of stuff down for the birds it’s now gone anyway. It’s ridiculous.”
But the enforcement officer, who works for contractor 3GS, replies: “It’s classed as littler still, food waste is classed as litter.”
Ms Bradley told the BBC: “If she’d chucked the wrapper down then that would have been fair enough, but this was absolutely ridiculous, we were very upset and very shocked.
“My mum’s a carer and the fine is more money than she gets in a week.
“When I got home my three-year-old asked me to take down the bird feeder from the garden ‘because nanny got into trouble’ for feeding them.”
She added that her mother was told the fine would be reduced to £100 if she paid it within 14 days.
Bath and North East Somerset Council said anyone caught littering would face a £150 fixed penalty fine.
However Councillor Dave Wood, cabinet member for climate change and environment, said the local authority would review the enforcement officer’s actions to determine whether they were proportionate.
He told the BBC: “Councils and their contractors should use common sense in dealing with cases like this.
“I have asked officers to urgently look into this matter and review the action taken with the contractor, to determine whether it was proportionate.”
The Independent has contacted Bath and North East Somerset Council and 3GS for comment.
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