Two pensioners threatened with £1,000 fine for leaving out charity clothing bags

A council threatened a pair of pensioners with fly-tipping fines after leaving bags for a children’s charity outside their homes.

Pensioners Barbara Wheeler, 73, and Margaret Bull, 84, were accused of ‘fly tipping’ after trying to donate to a disabled children’s charity.

But two weeks later, they both received letters from enforcement firm Kingdom – on behalf of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council – saying they had fallen foul of littering laws.

Ms Wheeler’s letter threatened legal action over a ‘suspected waste offence’, advised her to get a solicitor, and said she could be fined up to £1,000 if she did not respond.

Ms Bull’s letter said an enforcement officer had seen her littering and, as such, she was being issued with a £300 Fixed Penalty Notice – to be paid within 14 days.

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council has since apologised, and it is understood the fines have been dropped.

However, Ms Wheeler, a grandmother of ten, said she has ‘lost sleep’ over the incident.

She said: ‘I know councils are strapped for money, but they are just going round prosecuting people.

‘I had walked around to people who put charity shop bags out, I knocked on their doors and said ‘please take it in, you will be prosecuted, I’ve got a fine, you’ll get a fine’.

‘They couldn’t believe it, they said, ‘it’s a charity shop bag, how can it be fly-tipping?’ I’ve lost sleep over this. I’m a pensioner as well.’

Both Ms Wheeler and Ms Bull lost their husbands over a year ago, and said the threat of a fine was something they both ‘don’t need’.

The neighbours say they originally thought the letters were part of a scam.

Semi-retired cleaner Ms Wheeler, whose half-full donation bag contained two jumpers, a cardigan, scarves, and a pair of gloves, says she is worried that charities will suffer due to the harsh policy.

She added: ‘I think it’s dreadful, these charities need people’s help. It was only bags of clothes that we put out, that’s all it was.

‘It’s not fair – these charities need the things we put out. I had none of this when I was growing up. I had a wonderful childhood, lovely, but now it’s just gone mad. I think the country’s just gone mad, it’s not right.’

Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council leader Matt Boughton said: ‘We understand how upsetting it has been for residents who have received these fines from Kingdom, and I am genuinely sorry for the distress it has caused.

‘We have met with Kingdom to request an explanation for the decisions behind these fines, and to understand why the officer felt that fixed penalty notices were appropriate in these cases.

‘Tackling litter and fly-tipping across the borough remains an important priority for us, and enforcement is key to that. However, it is clear that these kerbside charity collections should not have resulted in action.’

Boughton said the council is reviewing circumstances to ensure a similar incident doesn’t happen again.

Tree of Hope, which supports families to secure funding, resources and support for seriously ill and disabled children and young people, was approached for comment.

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