A woman has told of her fury after being fined £150 for throwing two small crusts from a sandwich to pigeons in Piccadilly Gardens. Hazel Kirby said her punishment was triple the fine paid by Prime Minister Boris Johnson for breaching coronavirus restrictions at a Downing Street party during the pandemic.
Retired Hazel, 61, said she wanted to speak out to 'air' the issue in public - and she called the fine 'disproportionate' to the current minimum penalty of £100 for a speeding offence in a vehicle in the UK.
Hazel, from Harwood, Bolton, was told she was issued with a fixed penalty notice for a 'littering offence' under Section 87 of the Environmental Act 1990. She said the fine rose from £120 to £150 because she didn't pay within 10 days as she left Greater Manchester the following day to visit a friend in the south who had just lost her husband.
Hazel told the Manchester Evening News : "The fine is extortionate and I believe it is disproportionate when you compare it to a speeding fine - which is a potentially a life-threatening offence.
"Is it fair to say that the council is being overzealous? It just seems easy money to me to stop and fine someone for giving a pigeon a few crumbs of bread. This whole episode has made me think, do I really want to go back into Manchester ever again?
"I dropped a crust to a bird - it is not the crime of the century. I do not drop litter and am a responsible citizen. I just feel it is heavy-handed on the part of the council. It is triple the amount of money paid by the Prime Minister and it comes within the context of the cost of living crisis.
"A lot of people will not be able to afford a fine like this."
Hazel isn't the first to speak out on the fines.
In 2020 the M.E.N. told how a woman trying to be healthy by eating a salad was fined after feeding chunks of potato to pigeons in Piccadilly Gardens - and another spoke out over 'the most expensive lunch ever' after she was fined for giving the birds a Greggs vegan sausage roll.
We also reported how Leonie Ormsby was slapped with a £150 fine after a pigeon swooped to gobble up a tiny piece of bread from a tuna baguette she said she had dropped by accident.
Hazel, who used to work in Manchester for the University of Manchester and for a charity, went into the city centre on March 31 for a hair and podiatry appointment. She said it was each of the small corner crusts from her sandwich.
She said she was early and stopped to buy a packaged cheese and ham sandwich from Marks and Spencer for a few pounds for her lunch. The time on her ticket says 12.39pm. Hazel said: "I was eating the sandwich in Piccadilly Gardens. I had the two small crusts left over at the end which I threw to a pigeon which ate them up more or less straightaway.
"I just chucked it across and a pigeon swooped in and took it. It was there for a matter of seconds and as far as I am concerned, there was no littering. I went over to dispose of the wrapping in a bin and a woman from the council called me back.
"She was very careful to not tell me what the fine would be until she took my details." Hazel said she provided her details and was told then how much she would have to pay.
"I was given a ticket at the scene," she added. "I have paid because I knew that if it went on anymore...she said it could go up to a maximum of £2,500 or I could go to court.
"When she told me how much it was, I heard the voice of a man behind me telling me to tell her to go away, in colourful language. The day after I went down south to support a friend and I had been mulling over what to do with it.
"You could argue, is it really littering? The thing for me is that it seems an extortionate amount. I just think that it's not on and the whole issue needs airing in public. It is too much money - I thought it would be a £30 fine or something like that. Not this."
Hazel said she walked around Piccadilly Gardens after the incident, but could see no warning signs over littering and feeding food to pigeons. In email correspondence to her later, environmental enforcement company 3GS, which issues notices for the council, but doesn't set fines amounts, said there were 11 signs around Piccadilly Gardens in total.
They told her that feeding pigeons in 'most cities' was a problem and can encourage pests and vermin into an areas. Feeding birds, they added, also carries 'both nuisance and health implications'.
A Manchester City Council spokesperson said in response: "We know that people want to see a clean city centre which is why we make no apology for continuing to crackdown on littering. We have dedicated officers in the city who won't hesitate to take action against any person found dropping litter, no matter what type of litter it is, and anyone who is caught can expect a fixed penalty notice.
"There are more than 700 bins across the city so there is no excuse for dropping litter."
