Woman fined £1k for 'fly-tipping envelope'

Loretta Alvarez said she is unable to pay the fine

A woman from west London has been fined £1,000 by her local council for fly-tipping an envelope outside her flat in Feltham.

Loretta Alvarez, 26, said the communal bins - shared with about 25 other properties - were full, so she placed the cardboard envelope on top of cardboard next to the bins.

Ms Alvarez, who is a single mother, said she cannot afford to pay and is now being threatened with legal action.

Hounslow Council said fly tipping was defined as leaving waste anywhere in public apart from in a bin, regardless of whether bins are full.

Only the envelope was left by Ms Alvarez, she said, not the boxes

Ms Alvarez said she would "never intentionally" leave rubbish out in the open.

"It's been so stressful. I didn't want this to happen, I wouldn't want it to happen to someone else," she said.

"I've been trying to juggle this alongside work and being a mum - it's been hard."

She thought a council worker had picked up the letter with her address on and assumed the rest of the dumped rubbish was also hers.

Hounslow Council told Ms Alvarez she had until 5 November to make the payment in full, or she could face legal proceedings in which she could be criminally charged.

She said: "I don't have that money to give, I can't afford getting into debt to pay it, and I don't want to get a mark on my record.

"I'm a mental health nurse, I went to university for three years.

"They're fining me more than someone gets for speeding."

The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands Hounslow Council put the fine on hold while it investigated.

However, it has not been cancelled and the council has stayed firm on the envelope fine.

In a statement, councillor Pritam Grewal, cabinet member for community safety, said the council "remains committed to taking a zero-tolerance approach to littering and protecting the local environment".

He added: "We have done the right thing in issuing the fine, because littering includes leaving waste anywhere in public apart from in a bin, regardless of whether bins are full.

"While we accept that no one likes receiving a fine, residents expect us to tackle the offence and the offenders."