Oldbury gran threatened with £2,500 fine for dropping fag ash

Aug 15 2010 by Adam Aspinall, Sunday Mercury

“It all seems so heavy handed,’’ she said.

‘‘I can’t work out why the council would be so vindictive over such a petty matter. I’m so upset and angry.”

It is not the first time Sandwell Council has been accused of heavy handedness over littering. The authority dished out 2,200 penalty fines last year, compared to just 336 in neighbouring Dudley.

Mum Vanessa Kelly, 26, was threatened with a £75 fine by Sandwell officials last year for feeding the ducks at a local park, while with toddler son Harry. The threat was later dropped after a public outcry.

And mum Kerrie-Anne Hickin was left ‘dumbstruck’ when a warden fined her £75 as she walked to collect her children from school.

Mrs Hickin, 30, from West Bromwich, said a warden from Sandwell Council claimed he saw a tissue blow away in a gust of wind and then began reciting littering bylaws.

Speaking at the time she said: “I am totally disgusted by it all. It is absolutely ridiculous, petty and insane.”

But Councillor Derek Rowley, Sandwell’s Cabinet member for safer neighbourhoods, refused to be drawn on Mrs Martin’s case. He said: “We cannot comment on individual cases.

“In general terms, however, our wardens do not issue fixed penalty notices for dropping cigarette ash. They do for dropping cigarette butts, which are specifically classed as litter under the Environmental Protection Act.

“The council takes a dim view of littering because the people of Sandwell tell us they want clean streets.”