Woman fined for littering after leaving bins out on wrong day

Put your bins out on the right day and at the right time – or you could be fined for littering.

That’s the message from Plymouth City Council following a successful court case where a Stoke woman was ordered to pay £550 in fines and costs.

The woman was found guilty of littering in her absence by Plymouth magistrates and fined £220, ordered to pay £300 costs as well as a £30 victim surcharge by Plymouth magistrates.

The court heard on Tuesday 31 October last year a council officer was patrolling Stoke and witnessed a pile of household rubbish in the back lane of Lorrimore Avenue.

The officer inspected the contents and found letters addressed to the woman. The court heard that collection day is Thursday in this area, and brown waste collection would have been made on 19 October and on 2 November 2017. There were no reports of missed collections within this time and the rubbish had been put out two days before they were due to be collected.

Nicola Horne, environmental protection service manager said “Everyone needs to do their bit to help keep our streets clean. We know that we have to get the basics right – that means making sure everyone is clear about what we are asking them to do with their rubbish and recycling bins.

“Littering is an offence and affects neighbours and blights our streets.  We want to crack down on it to keep our streets clean for everyone to enjoy and we all play our part.”

Letters were sent to every home last year asking people to:

• Put the bin at your usual collection point after 6.30pm the night before collection day and before 6.30am on the day of the collection. Bring your bins back in on the day of collection.

• It also asked people not to leave rubbish next to their bins as it would not be collected.