Ironically it was a taxi controller who was fined in the first place
I didn't think pigeons ate sweets though.
Fined for dropping a sweet
SWEET toothed tot Alfie McKinlay landed his dad in a sticky situation when he was given an on-the-spot fine for dropping a sweet on the floor.
The two-year-old dropped the gummy treat in Pontefract's Market Place last week and his dad Craig was handed an instant £50 fine by council patrollers who spotted the offending confectionery.
Outraged Craig, of Pinewood Place in Knottingley, said he was tying his shoelace at the time of the incident and didn't see the toddler drop the sweet.
He said: "It's ridiculous. How can they expect a two-year-old to be able to put litter in the bin? And it was a sweet, not litter – it wouldn't have been long before the pigeons ate it."
The 27-year-old part-time taxi desk operator added: "I had just been to buy a pasty and was about to take a bite out of it when one of the patrollers asked me if I'd thrown the sweet on the floor.
"I said Alfie might have but if I'd seen him do it I would have picked it up and thrown it in the bin. I certainly didn't drop anything.
"But the patrollers said it was an offence and they were going to fine me £50. There was no warning or explanation.
"I rang the council, explained what happened and said I couldn't afford to pay the fine but the man I spoke to just said it wasn't his problem."
Charlie Tindall, the council's neighbourhood patroller and dog warden manager, said the fixed penalty was given to Mr McKinlay as he was seen throwing sweets rather than his son.
He said: "The notice was given because of the father's behaviour, which was witnessed by our patrollers.
"We are committed to making our towns cleaner and more pleasant places in which to live, work and shop and our neighbourhood patrollers will act if they see anyone acting in a way that damages the environment."
13 July 2006
