Fine Of The Week

Such is the extent of the problem of litter pollution that groups of community-minded individuals take it upon themselves to clear up the mess. Eighty-five year old Alan Davies joins a group of his friends for a walk and a litter pick. On September 6th, after picking litter along Longwood Lane and Hayhead Wood in the Aldridge district of Walsall, in a senior moment he left his walking stick and a bag containing a cushion behind.

Using CCTV and his car’s registration number, Walsall Council tracked Davies down and hit him with a £150 fixed penalty fine. Cue outrage. The Council backed down, rescinded the fine, and issued a profuse apology.

The thought occurs that if they could go to all that effort to track him down, why cannot they show the same zeal in pursuing the litterers in the first place. Low hanging fruit, eh?