Woman fined for feeding pigeons

A bird lover has been given a fine for feeding pigeons near her home.

Ruth Shorter, 46, of Liverpool Road, Portsmouth, was taken to court by the city council for leaving up to 2lb (0.9kg) of bird seed in the street.

Appearing before Portsmouth Magistrates Court on Monday, Ms Shorter was fined £100 for a littering offence and ordered to pay £250 in costs.

The council said Ms Shorter was warned about the extra work her action was causing for street cleaners.

'Great pleasure'

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The city council took this case to court because copious amounts of this seed was being scattered which constituted as litter.

"Also, having that amount of seed around does attract vermin which is not conducive to public health."

The court heard how Ms Shorter, who suffers from depression, took "great pleasure" in feeding the pigeons.