Woman fined £150 for feeding pigeon sausage roll in Bath

A woman has been fined £150 after feeding a bit of sausage roll to a pigeon.

Sally-Ann Fricker said she was out shopping in Bath with her daughter and her two young boys when a pigeon landed in front of them.

She broke off a corner of the snack and threw it to the bird which immediately flew off with the morsel.

Bath and North East Somerset Council said anyone caught littering faced a £150 fixed penalty fine.

However, councillor Dave Wood said they would be reviewing the action taken by the contractor "to determine whether it was proportionate".

Ms Fricker's daughter, Toni Bradley, said her mother was approached "seconds later" by the enforcement officer after throwing the food.

He told her she would be fined £150, but this would be reduced to £100 if she paid it within 14 days.

The fixed penalty notice was issued by 3GS (UK) on behalf of the council

"If she'd chucked the wrapper down then that would have been fair enough, but this was absolutely ridiculous, we were very upset and very shocked," Ms Bradley said.

"My mum's a carer and the fine is more money than she gets in a week."

"When I got home my three-year-old asked me to take down the bird feeder from the garden 'because nanny got into trouble' for feeding them," she added.

The council said there were notices all around the city asking people not to feed the birds

Mr Wood, who is the cabinet member for climate change and the environment, said: "Councils and their contractors should use common sense in dealing with cases like this.

"I have asked officers to urgently look into this matter and review the action taken with the contractor, to determine whether it was proportionate."

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"As a general point, pigeons and gulls cause a public nuisance and are part of the problem the council has to manage when dealing with litter on the streets," he added.

"There are notices all over the city asking people not to feed birds."