An environmental worker is facing a criminal prosecution for littering after dropping cherry stones among some trees.
Jeff Hughes, 48, dropped three of four cherry pips thinking they would be eaten by the birds or grow into a cherry tree, but to his surprise he was approached by officers from Kingdom Security and told that he had broken the law and would have to pay an £80 fine.
He refused and is now being taken to court by Wirral Council, which employs Kingdom to hand out fines on its behalf.
The fact that companies are paid by keeping a proportion of the fine means that they are “incentivised” to hand out more tickets, campaigners have said as they call for a “common sense” approach which would include allowing people to pick up their rubbish.
Mr Hughes, who has volunteered on litter picks and spent 15 years working with an environmental network teaching people about gardening and waste reduction, said: “It was a conscious decision. I thought it is tiny and there are big trees there so I will throw it underneath the trees among the grass and the leaves.
“I didn’t think it would offend anyone, it is a natural thing. I would understand if it was a pile of cherry stones on a pathway, but I felt like it was the right place.”
He was approached by two wardens outside Birkenhead library who told him he had “committed a crime” and issued a fixed penalty notice for the “illegal deposit of litter – (food) Cherry Pips”.
Mr Hughes added: “I thought they were joking, I was absolutely gob smacked. I said to her that I didn’t think I had done anything wrong. She told me that it was not what I had thrown but the act of throwing it that it might as well be a cigarette butt. I pointed out that they don’t grow on trees.”
As it was July there were plenty of trees in the area dropping seeds on their own, Mr Hughes said, adding that he had placed the small plastic bag that he had been eating cherries from back in his pocket.
“Would anyone be offended if a child dropped a conker under some trees?” he asked.
“There was a sofa dumped around the corner that no one was doing anything about, it feels like they are picking on the easy targets and the real problems are not being addressed.”
He refused to pay the fine and has now been taken to magistrates court, where he has pleaded not guilty and the case has been adjourned for trial.
It will be one of a handful of cases that have tested the litter fines in court and has echoes of the trial of Luke Gutteridge, who was cleared by magistrates for accidentally dropping a piece of orange peel the size of a 10p piece in Broxbourne.
If found guilty Mr Hughes could face a fine of £2,500, a bill for the council’s costs and a criminal record.
In 2014 Wirral council issued only 207 Fixed Penalty Notices, mainly for litter and dog fouling. After employing Kingdom 6,241 fines were handed out in 2015 and 11,820 in 2016, largely for litter in both years.
Wirral refused to reveal their financial agreement with Kingdom, but many other councils revealed that they kept a proportion of the fine, generally around 50 per cent.
Kingdom said that it was the decision of the council to take someone to court for non payment, adding: “They would not take that decision lightly”.
Wirral Council did not respond to a request for comment.
Defra guidance states that a fixed penalty notice should only be issued when it is “a proportionate response” and there is “evidence of intent to drop litter”.
It adds the notices should not be issued for “accidental littering” and offenders should be given the chance to pick up their litter before being fined.
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