THREE women have all been slapped with a £400 fly-tipping fine for cleaning up their neighbour's rubbish.

Residents Anne Lazzara, Olivia Post and Helena Truett were penalised by their local council in Sussex for a total of £1,200.

Anne, 83, was first issued the Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) at the end of last year when she put her bins out at the wrong time.

Children's entertainer Olivia was then served a few weeks later.

Olivia said she was given the FPN after clearing up the mess outside the flats when foxes and seagulls tore apart the bins.

Midwife Helena was then fined one week later.

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Despite saying she doesn't know why she was given the penalty, Helena has been summoned to court.

According to National Enforcement Solution (NES), a private company outsourced by Rother District Council, there is no option to appeal the hefty fine.

Olivia said the whole situation has been "upsetting" and "distressing".

She said: "Our rubbish is contained in a plastic bag, and we have foxes and seagulls here that rip the bags open.

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"We're in this constant scenario of having litter and rubbish from all over the place being strewn across the car park.

"During the snow it was particularly bad because nobody came to empty the bins, there was even more litter strewn around that unusual.

"So I went and picked the litter up, took the rubbish bag out of my kitchen, which obviously had some of my waste in."

Olivia said at a time where the weather meant all services had been cut off, the one they received was from a fining officer.

She added: "The following day I get a knock on my door from this officer who managed to get up the icy pathway, which was quite astonishing to be honest, because we had no water, no shops open, we were literally cut off.

"I was astonished because the one service we got was somebody issuing fines.

"He asked me, 'do you recognise this bag?'.

"Of course I said 'yes' and he said 'I'm giving you this fine' and cautioned me – it's very intimidating.

"He had his camera on and, just like the police, he read me my rights.

"I was flabbergasted. I said 'this isn't even my rubbish apart from the stuff at the bottom'.

"It's really upsetting, I hate litter, I find it really distressing."

The council have since offered to reimburse Olivia's fine as a "gesture of goodwill" – but said she will still have to pay the £400 first.

Olivia added: "They're giving me a goodwill extension, and offered to refund me, but fundamentally they're saying you still have to pay the fine.

"I don't think you should pay for something like that, I feel like I'm admitting to guilt, because it says on their website that you pay the fine to avoid prosecution.

"The head of legal at Rother Council said there's also no legal definition of fly-tipping."

THAT'S RUBBISH

By clearing up broken egg shells and other litter she had reportedly broken section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Pensioner Anne was given hers when her grandson took the bins out too early on collection day.

He was later told tenants should take their bins out at 6am.

Anne said she would "rather go to prison" than pay the fine – the council have since cancelled it.

However, Helena has not had hers taken away and was reportedly handed her notice without any evidence.

When Olivia appealed the fine, it was rejected.

In an email sent to her by NES, it read: "I have reviewed your comments and the evidence collected by the investigating officer.

"As a result, your representation has been declined.

"Having viewed the interaction between yourself and the Officer, which was held under caution, I can see that you admit that the waste had been deposited by you.

"You admit that under caution, that you placed your waste in the litter bin.

"You must keep your unwanted waste on your own property until such time that you can dispose of it correctly, or you can use the local tips.

"You must keep your unwanted waste on your own property until such time that you can dispose of it correctly, or you can use the local tips.

"Dumped waste on the public highway would be collected by the council at our cost. As a consequence, an offence of Fly Tipping was committed.

"A Fixed Penalty Notice is issued to offenders to give them the opportunity to discharge liability for prosecution.

"You can discharge your liability to prosecution for the offence of fly tipping under section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 by payment of the Fixed Penalty Notice or request a court date to have your case heard in the magistrate's court to appeal the offence."

A Rother District Council spokesperson said: "Enforcement began in the summer to tackle to the growing issue of fly-tipping and littering, which is a real blight on our district.

"Enforcement officers can only deal with the situation they come across.

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"In this case, rubbish was found on the ground that contained Olivia Post's name and address, suggesting that the resident had failed to dispose of her waste properly, and she was given an on-the-spot fine.

"We appreciate that there are sometimes circumstances that we are not aware of and, having heard from Ms Post, we will reimburse her for the cost of the penalty notice as a gesture of goodwill."

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