Pensioner fined £80 for pouring coffee down a drain because she didn’t want to get a bin wet
Council snoopers told astonished Sue Peckitt it was illegal to tip liquid down a street drain
A PENSIONER was slapped with an £80 littering fine for pouring a cup of coffee down the drain.
Sue Peckitt, 65, was astonished when two council snoopers told her it was illegal to tip a drink away in the street.
Retired civil servant Sue said she did not like the taste of the takeaway coffee and poured the liquid down a drain because she didn't want to make a litter bin wet.
As she went to bin the empty cup a pair of council wardens swooped and hit her with an on-the-spot fixed penalty notice for £80.
The fine's paperwork alleges Sue "did drop leave and walk away from coffee diwn (sic) the drain" near Ealing Broadway shopping centre, West London.
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Sue, of Hanwell, : "I am astonished by the whole process.
"I had bought a cup of coffee, it wasn't very nice and I thought, I want to get rid of this.
"So I poured it down the drain and then I started to walk to the bin to put the cup in the bin.
"The enforcement officers stopped me and said I was breaking the law, then I filled in all the forms and they fined me £80.
"I think there is a big problem with litter but it is bizarre.
"I had put this coffee down (the drain) because it was the safe and environmentally friendly thing to do.
"The reason I didn't dispose of the cup and the liquid in the bin was that I didn't want to turn the contents of the bin into a soggy mess."
Sue appealed against the barmy fine - but Ealing council insisted she must pay up.
What does the law say?
POURING coffee down the drain could be seen as a breach of environmental laws.
That's because the law is designed to ban any “poisonous, noxious or polluting matter” into the drainage system.
Section 85 of the Water Act 1989 makes it a criminal offence to cause of knowingly permit any “poisonous, noxious or polluting matter”or any solid matter to enter any controlled waters or any matter other than trade effluent or sewage effluent to enter controlled waters by being discharged from a drain or a sewer in contravention of a relevant prohibition.
You’re breaking the law if you operate without a permit if you should have one.
Depending on the severity of the law-break, you can be handed a prosecution or caution.
However it changed its mind after being contacted by local reporters.
A Town Hall spokesman said: "The council has investigated this particular case and will be dropping the fine originally issued.
"Our priority is to make sure that the borough is clean and litter free and we apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused."
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