After five separate attempts to recycle three cardboard boxes, a St Pauls resident decided to place the boxes beside the full-up communal recycling bin that serves her flat. Pippa Gibbons of Brigstocke Road received three letters threatening fines equating to £900 - one of them being addressed to her 11-year-old son.
The three boxes were separately addressed to each of the three family members, who were named on the packaging. Two of them faced a £400 fine and the other a £100 fine, making the family liable to pay a total of £900 - but Bristol City Council has since retracted the fines and admitted that the three separate letters were issued due to a "failure in our administration system".
Ms Gibbons said that she would have accepted the fine if she "had dumped a sofa", but in this case she had "no other choice" as the recycling bin was full on each of the occasions she visited over several days to try to dispose of it. Although there is a sign by the bins urging members of the public to put waste inside the bin to avoid pests, she said there is nothing highlighting the fact that putting it next to it could result in a fine.
