‘Insane!!!’ £75 tissue fine is a bitter blow

A mother has been fined by Sandwell Council for littering after she dropped a small piece of tissue while racing to catch a bus.

Kerrie-Anne Hickin was ‘dumbstruck’ when a warden fined her £75 as she walked quickly to get the bus and collect her children from school.

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

‘I had a cold and I stood there dumbstruck, it was really windy,’ said Mrs Hickin, a customer services adviser. ‘I did not do it intentionally. I would hold my hands up if I did it on purpose.

‘I am totally disgusted by it all. It is absolutely ridiculous, petty and insane.’

She is refusing to pay the fine after the incident on Wednesday, which caused her to be late collecting her two children.

It’s the second time in less than a month that the council has faced criticism, after another young mum was fined for feeding ducks with her son in a park.

It is typical of Sandwell Council,’ said her husband Neil, 36. ‘Nothing surprises me now. They are jobsworths, the lot of them. I don’t have any time for the council. It is a joke. But the council will not listen to us. If we do not pay, the next stage there will be bailiffs.’ Sandwell councillor Derek Rowley said: ‘We can’t go into the details of the case, because it could go to court. Survey after survey tells us that litter is a major worry for the people of Sandwell. They tell us they don’t want to see litter on the streets.