By EPerkins1 | Posted: November 07, 2016
By Liz Perkins
A TEENAGER has ruffled feathers by feeding a chip to a pigeon and is now being hauled before the courts.
Lauren Paige Smith, aged 19, had been enjoying a McDonald's meal for her lunch when she decided to feed the bird one of her fries, which she claimed was gobbled up.
But a council litter inspector came rushing over and gave her a £25 fine.
The Cardiff customer service advisor said there was no "litter" left by the bird and refused to pay the fine, issued following the incident on July 8.
It follows a campaign launched by the local authority to encourage residents to feed the litter bins and not the gulls and pigeons in the city centre, after complaints they were becoming a nuisance.
Lauren, whose fine has now increased to £100 because of her refusal to pay, said: "I was feeding the seagulls and pigeons some of my lunch when a man who worked for the council came out of nowhere and told me I was littering.
"He asked for my details because he wanted me to pay a £25 fine. I asked him are you serious? I was feeding the birds — and they ate all of the chips.
"But the fine has escalated and now I'm being hauled into court.
"There's so much worse things going on in the world. I was only in Swansea because I was doing training for work."
She is now expected to go before the courts on November 15.
Her grandfather said of the situation, "it's madness."
He added: "Lauren has never been in trouble in her life and they're summoning her to court for feeding some birds.
"This is a complete waste of taxpayers' money. Anybody with an ounce of sense would realise this is ridiculous.
"There's needles and syringes everywhere in parks and they choose to fine a young girl for feeding a bird? What a job's worth."
Above: Image - South West News Service
A Swansea Council spokesman said they had been cracking down to stop people from throwing food on the ground and added: "We have an ongoing campaign in the city centre to discourage people from throwing food on the ground for seagulls and pigeons.
"City centre businesses raised concerns about aggressive birds attacking shoppers and so we are working with these businesses as part of wider plans to keep the city litter-free.
"The Tidy Swansea campaign highlights the fact that throwing food on the ground is a littering offence and anyone caught doing it risks being issued with a fixed penalty.
"Discarded food and other types of litter can have a negative impact on the look of our city centre and we are doing what we can to make sure the city centre is an attractive place for visitors to come and enjoy."
No comments:
Post a Comment