{"id":351412,"date":"2025-11-03T00:11:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/351412\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T00:11:14","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T00:11:14","slug":"neighbours-are-fined-600-each-by-over-the-top-council-after-officers-insist-their-recycling-is-fly-tipping-despite-it-being-picked-up-in-same-place-for-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/351412\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbours are fined \u00a3600 EACH by &#8216;over the top&#8217; council after officers insist their recycling is fly-tipping&#8230; despite it being picked up in same place for years"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"mol-bullets-with-font\">\n<li class=\"\"><strong>Have YOU been unfairly fined? Email katherine.lawton@dailymail.co.uk\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"author-section byline-plain\">By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/profile-3481\/katherine-lawton.html\" class=\"author\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">KATHERINE LAWTON, NEWS REPORTER<\/a> <\/p>\n<p class=\"byline-section\"> Published:  15:37 EDT, 2 November 2025   |  Updated:  16:41 EDT, 2 November 2025   <\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Neighbours\u00a0have been left furious after they were fined \u00a3600 each by &#8216;over the top&#8217; council officers who mistook their recycling for fly-tipping.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Fiona Muir, of Ealing, West <a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/london\/index.html\" id=\"mol-fc13d940-b3e4-11f0-b551-51aabb1e0bbf\" class=\"\" rel=\"noopener\">London<\/a>, said she and her neighbours have been leaving their recycling on a grass verge for years as they live on a red route, meaning vehicles are restricted from stopping outside their homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But after placing some cardboard boxes in the usual spot for collection, Ms Muir said her household and those next door were hit with &#8216;threatening&#8217; letters from Ealing Council fining them\u00a0\u00a3600 each for fly-tipping.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The homeowner has since vowed &#8216;never to recycle again&#8217; as she condemned &#8216;over the top&#8217; council officers for wrongly dishing out fines.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">She told the Daily Mail:\u00a0&#8216;It&#8217;s\u00a0so unsettling and threatening for those who receive them and who are clearly innocent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;We think we&#8217;re good residents and this is wrong. They&#8217;re branding us as criminals.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Ms Muir added: &#8216;This is how we put our recycling out for collection and have done so for years with no problem.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The homeowner said there is an issue with fly-tipping in the area and she has previously reported severe cases of it to the council.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-9bc23d4647c59416\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/103530519-15233767-image-a-1_1762117240261.jpg\" height=\"543\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The recycling left on a grass verge near Fiona Muir's London home, which resulted in a hefty fine\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The recycling left on a grass verge near Fiona Muir&#8217;s London home, which resulted in a hefty fine<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-7db83f2bd0bfd082\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/103530525-15233767-image-a-2_1762117254174.jpg\" height=\"554\" width=\"634\" alt=\"A council agent collected the details of the residents from labels on the recycling and fined Ms Muir's household and her neighbour\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">A council agent collected the details of the residents from labels on the recycling and fined Ms Muir&#8217;s household and her neighbour<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Having submitted an appeal to challenge their fines, Ms Muir said she received another letter stating the case has been put on hold pending further review by an officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But Ms Muir remains fearful of more fines as she cannot put her recycling directly outside her home due to the nature of the road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;It&#8217;s just been upsetting. We used to think quite highly of Ealing Council but now we&#8217;re really disappointed in them,&#8217; she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;Now we&#8217;re in this situation where we&#8217;ve appealed and we&#8217;re waiting for them to get back to us within 20 days. Hopefully they will come to their senses and cancel this, but we have to wait.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;The tone is aggressive and I think if an older person got this they would be really upset. It&#8217;s just really unbelievable and wrong.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Ms Muir explained they have a wheelie bin at the side of the house for rubbish but have always been told to leave their recycling on the grass verge.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;That is the procedure that we&#8217;ve always done. If that&#8217;s changed they need to let us know properly,&#8217; she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">&#8216;When everyone is really struggling in this climate, it&#8217;s just so wrong and unreasonable.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The Daily Mail has contacted Ealing Council for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">It comes just months after Ealing Council launched a campaign &#8211; titled &#8216;This is our home, not a tip&#8217; &#8211; to crack down on anti-social waste dumpers, threatening fly-tippers with fines of up to \u00a31,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The punishment replaces the old limit of \u00a3400, less than half the amount of the new FPN.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>   <img decoding=\"async\" id=\"i-fc773ef0a4ae3da6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/103530523-15233767-image-a-3_1762117268403.jpg\" height=\"564\" width=\"634\" alt=\"The recycling left out for collection on Ms Muir's road in Ealing, West London\" class=\"blkBorder img-share\" style=\"max-width:100%\" loading=\"lazy\" \/>   <\/p>\n<p class=\"imageCaption\">The recycling left out for collection on Ms Muir&#8217;s road in Ealing, West London<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The council recorded 22,730 incidents of fly-tipping across the borough in 2024, and spends around \u00a33million per year clearing and disposing of rubbish.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Last week, a Londoner\u00a0was slapped with a<a style=\"font-weight: bold;\" target=\"_self\" class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-15215979\/Woman-fined-150-jobsworth-council-officers-pouring-coffee-drain.html\" rel=\"noopener\"> \u00a3150 fine for pouring the remnants of her coffee down a drain<\/a> after she was &#8216;chased&#8217; by three council officers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Burcu Yesilyurt, from Kew, west London, said she tipped a small amount of the drink from her reusable cup down the road gully because she didn&#8217;t want to spill it on the bus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But moments later, she was &#8216;shocked&#8217; to see three male enforcement officers &#8216;chasing&#8217; her down the street as she stood at the bus stop near Richmond station.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The officers fined her \u00a3150 under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, reduced to \u00a3100 if she paid within 14 days.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">Ms Yesilyurt said she found the encounter &#8216;quite intimidating&#8217; and was left feeling &#8216;shaky&#8217; on her way to work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">But Richmond-upon-Thames Council insisted its officers &#8216;acted professionally and objectively&#8217; and were &#8216;justified&#8217; in issuing the fine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mol-para-with-font\">The council later said it had cancelled the fine and was &#8216;reviewing our advice on the disposal of liquids in a public place&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>                    Share or comment on this article:<br \/>\n                        Neighbours are fined \u00a3600 EACH by &#8216;over the top&#8217; council after officers insist their recycling is fly-tipping&#8230; despite it being picked up in same place for years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Have YOU been unfairly fined? Email katherine.lawton@dailymail.co.uk\u00a0\u00a0 By KATHERINE LAWTON, NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:37 EDT, 2 November 2025&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":351413,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[211,746,50,159,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-351412","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-environment","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115482872431862973","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351412"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/351412\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/351413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=351412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=351412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}