Getting punishment down to a fine art

By James Clarke
BBC News, England

Chips, Wotsits, pigeons. Be careful.

A lolly stick, a used match or a single Wotsit might not be considered the biggest blot on the landscape.

But all three have landed people in trouble for dropping litter - and the Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) campaign says small items are often the biggest problem.

A teenager fined £75 this week for leaving an ice lolly stick on a wall in Manchester city centre said she started crying when she was ordered to pay up even though she offered to put the stick in a bin.

Sorrell Walsh, 16, said the council warden told her: "It's too late for that, you've just got yourself a £75 fine."

Celine Dion

Her dismay was probably matched by that of Hilary Buckland from Luton, fined £75 last week for throwing a Wotsit out of her car window.

But the councils who imposed the two fines said they were part of important crackdowns on litter aimed at keeping the streets clear of rubbish - however small.

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Discarded Wotsit - £75 fine Pigeons fed - Asbo Rubbish put out on wrong day - £50 fine Poundland receipt dropped - £100 fine Tea party in Parliament Square - £250 fine Eating crisps while driving - £250 fine Flashing Simpsons figures on dashboard - £30 fine (overturned) Dirty Dancing soundtrack played too loudly - £1,000 fine Wooden door replaced by plastic door without permission - £330 fine plus £1,797.75 costs Licking CCTV camera to obscure view - Asbo Officer's sandwich eaten while taking part in police identity parade - six month conditional discharge All cases in England since 2003

Peter Gibson, of Keep Britain Tidy, said: "When it comes to littering, the worst problems are the smaller items, cigarette ends, chewing gum and so on.

"Food litter is a real problem in that the rat population has increased so much recently and the sheer amount of food on the streets is a problem."

But Mr Gibson said KBT wanted guidelines and a national training programme for people who hand out fines and for them all to show consistency.

Recent history is littered with tales of people getting into trouble for things which at first glance may seem quirky, unlikely, or just plain silly.

Feeding ducks, eating crisps and playing Celine Dion songs too loudly on the piano have all incurred the wrath of authority in England.

While the "crimes" may not always seem too serious at first glance, the authorities enforcing the fines, Asbos or points on driving licences have usually maintained they were right to do so, because the offences were inconveniencing others or putting them in danger.

Poundland receipt

Last week, 66-year-old Bernard Hambleton from Stockport was given an Asbo for feeding pigeons outside his home, after 22 complaints in four years from neighbours upset about pigeon noise and bird droppings.

And last July, three women, aged between 55 and 76, were warned they could face a £60 litter fine if they carried on feeding ducks at Hilsea Lido in Portsmouth, amid fears leftover bread could attract rats that would pollute the water.

Best place for it

Discarded food also landed an Essex man in hot water in February when he drove too far while throwing chips out of his car window, he littered the streets of two different councils and found himself fined twice.

In December 2004 bargain shopping proved a false economy for a woman who was fined £100 when she dropped a receipt as she left Poundland in Dudley.

And a Gateshead woman was fined £50 in February 2005 for littering after a parking ticket fell off her car windscreen onto the ground when she drove away, leaving her to pay both the parking fine and the litter penalty.

Flashing Simpsons

Other vehicle-based cases to land people in trouble have included a lorry driver in County Durham fined £250 for eating a packet of crisps while negotiating a roundabout and a 58-year-old man in Whitby fined £30 for eating an ice cream while he drove.

Keep Tidy Britain posters down the ages Enlarge Image

The Crown Prosecution Service said it takes offences like this very seriously because driving a vehicle while not in proper control of it, for whatever reason, is potentially lethal.

But a 57-year-old woman from Hampshire who was fined for "unauthorised use of an emergency beacon" in November had her £30 reimbursed on appeal.

She proved the "beacon" in question was a selection of flashing Simpsons cartoon figures fixed to the dashboard to amuse her grandson.

Playing CDs too loudly has seen people fined, given Asbos or ordered to pay compensation.

Hot tub sing-song

And in 2003 a Scarborough family were also issued with a noise abatement order after neighbours complained loud practicing of Celine Dion hit My Heart Will Go On, from the film Titanic, by a daughter learning to play the piano had caused them sleepless nights.

Not while you're driving

In March a 35-year-old fish merchant from Hull was fined £1,500 for breaching noise abatement orders when a group of friends sang Beatles songs in his garden hot tub early in the morning.

Judge Tom Cracknell told Charles Roach: "It is bad enough people singing Yellow Submarine in a hot tub at 9pm, let alone at nine in the morning."

Doug Jewell, spokesman for civil liberties group Liberty, said fines for things like dropping litter "had to be proportionate".

But he said Liberty was more concerned about the occasional inappropriate use of Asbos.

"We're not against Asbos in all circumstances but they are being used a silver bullet to solve every crime under the sun.

"They are sweeping up some ridiculous things with them and we are dealing with various things where very vulnerable people are being given Asbos."