A mother says she was made to feel ‘like a criminal’ after she was threatened with a fine for putting rubbish by her drive

A mother says she was made to feel ‘like a criminal’ after she was threatened with a fine for putting rubbish by her drive

A mother who was threatened with a fine for leaving trash by her driveway claimed that the incident made her feel “like a criminal.”

Leah Spicer of Christchurch begged an enforcement officer not to fine her £150 for leaving her bin and a piece of cardboard on the pavement in front of her house.

He relented after she explained that she had recently lost her job and that all she needed to do was relocate.

Today, the councils of Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole backed the officer, saying he was enforcing the law but was sensitive to each resident’s situation.

Ms Spicer, on the other hand, felt her treatment was excessive.

She told the Bournemouth Daily Echo: ‘The day before he took photos and then without letting me know he came back the next day to give me a fine and a criminal record.

‘I said I would move it and he said he’d come out the day before and it had been 24 hours which is why he was coming to give me a fine.

‘He read me my rights which is when I started thinking ‘what have I done’, I felt like I was a criminal, I couldn’t believe it.

‘I was just in shock. I don’t work for the council but you have to give a written warning.’

Ms Spicer said she had just lost her job and wouldn’t have been able to afford the fixed penalty notice of £150.

‘At the end he said there’s no fine, so all of that to turn around and say you don’t have to pay.

‘I don’t know his reason for even doing it in the first place. It’s disgusting and needs to be addressed.

‘I would like him to be spoken to, for them to know the right way to go about it, talk to us nicely, like a human.

‘He couldn’t wait to give me the fine, it’s really sad there’s people like him who want to do that.

‘The council should be working with us, if it needed to be moved, tell me and I would have moved it straight away.’

Today a BCP Spokesperson backed their officer and said he had done his job properly.

They said: ‘The Waste Investigations Support & Enforcement contractors, (WISE) enforce legislation in accordance with the law and in line with our policy. They receive training and ongoing professional development to maintain the high standards we require. They are sensitive to each resident’s situation, whilst still required to investigate and enforce.

‘The contractors spoke to the resident who had left items of waste on the pavement for a number of days. Items for collection will not be collected unless placed in a bin and householders can be found responsible for waste such as this, even when it is outside their house on the pavement.

‘Residents should visit one of our recycling centres to dispose of additional waste, or store it suitably and safely on their property until the next scheduled collection.

‘BCP Council will soon launch an awareness campaign called “Your Waste, Your Duty” to highlight the work we carry out around these issues so that all residents, businesses and visitors can continue to help improve our area.’