"Coventry gran fined £50 - for picking up litter"

A 64-year-old grandmother says she was made to feel like a criminal after stooping to pick up a cigarette wrapper in Coventry city centre that she'd just dropped.



Lesley Apps was hit with an instant £50 fine when a council officer swooped.

Lesley, who lives in Radford, says a piece of the wrapper had accidentally fallen out of her pocket in Smithford Way and she was picking it up when she was fined.

She said: “I was doing the right thing but I was still punished.

“Maybe I would have been better off if I had left it.”

The incident happened at 9.45am on January 14 after the retired café worker, of Hewitt Avenue, bought a pack of cigarettes at a newsagents.

She said: “I was already bent over to pick it up.

“I was probably a bit slower than usual because I was having back trouble but even then it was clear I wasn’t just going to leave it there.

“I tried to explain but she didn’t give me a chance.

“She still gave me the fine and it made me feel stupid, like I was in the wrong, like I was a criminal. I felt targeted and it’s a horrible feeling.”

Lesley refuses to pay the fine and has written a letter of complaint to the council.

I would have thought CCTV covers that area which would resolve this issue quite quickly.

I am of the firm conviction that these "fines" are actually illegal. My understanding is that only a court of law can actually fine you. One day someone will actually push this point to the limit.