A woman was fined £600 – after a piece of cardboard flew out of her bin, she claims. Francesca Poncetta says she was left in shock last month when she received a letter about rubbish found on the street near her home in Wood Green, north London.
It said a piece of packaging bearing her name and address was found at the base of a tree a couple of days after the recycling bins were collected – and she was being fined. Ms Poncetta, who works as a freelance photographer, says at first she had thought the letter was a joke. The 32-year-old claims to break all her boxes down before putting them in the bin, and she believes the wind must have blown the scrap away. After appealing to Labour-run Haringey Council, she got the fine scrapped.
But she says the stress of the situation was hard to take.
Ms Poncetta said: “I got a letter saying that they had found a piece of cardboard with my name and address on it and they wanted to confirm that it came from my building.
“I receive a lot of cardboard boxes with my job so I break them all down and it was a very windy day so what I believe happened is they opened a very full bin and it just flew out.
“I answered their questions and explained what happened and thought that was that. But two weeks later, I received another letter saying that I had been found guilty and owed £600. At first when I got the letter, I thought it was a joke. I figured that they would realise it was a mistake and cancel it. I was definitely in shock.”
The letter, which came on August 12, dated the cardboard scrap as having been found on August 6 and said that Ms Poncetta must pay £300 within the first 14 days, or it would increase to £600.
The resident of four years, who rents with her partner Pierce Rosamond, claims she tried to appeal the fine and contacted both local MPs and councillors with no luck.
She says that the threat of the fine really stressed her out, as she couldn’t afford to pay it and felt it was out of proportion for the offence.
She added: “The letter mentioned that I should seek legal advice which felt very threatening. The first thing that I did was contact the council, because I thought it might be a scam. I see sofas and beds being dumped on the street all the time, and if it was for that then I would understand, but this was just an accident.
“It was all absolutely blown out of proportion. If they charged me £50 I would have paid it but £600 is insane. I would have done anything I could to not pay it. I don’t have a fixed salary every month, so it is quite a considerable amount for me. It is not money that I can afford to pay out for no reason.”
The fine was eventually cancelled on September 15, just over a month after it was received.
Though Ms Poncetta says that she was relieved to see it had finally been sorted, the incident still caused her considerable stress and she believes it should be easier to appeal fines.
She said: “It was all a huge waste of time for me, and as a freelancer I really value my time.
“It was quite a journey. It was a huge relief when they cancelled it. I had been so stressed.
“It doesn’t feel fair that this high a fine was given for this type of offence. There should be a system in place for people to contest these things.
“They gave me the maximum fine so it seems like they are just trying to make money. There is no way of appealing these fines so it is an easy win for them.
“I have never received a fine in my life, and that is why I was so annoyed. I got my first one for something that I didn’t even do.”
A Haringey Council spokesperson said: “Residents have a duty of care to dispose of their household waste responsibly and this fixed penalty notice was issued after the cardboard was found in the street.
“Residents can challenge the decision as was the case here. After considering the information provided, on this occasion we cancelled the fixed penalty notice.
“Our residents and businesses have demanded stronger measures to deal with littering and waste dumping so that our streets and open spaces are attractive places that can be enjoyed by all.”