A couple who “just wanted to clean their street” have been slapped with a £1,200 fine by their local council after they tidied up the “disgusting” rubbish outside their home.
Veronika Mike, 41, and Zoltan Pinter said the street outside their two-bedroom terraced house has been plagued by rubbish for years – with people dumping waste around the designated bins that they said is not collected and attracts rats.
On April 29, to clean his street, Zoltan filled an old cardboard box with food remnants and discarded packaging to stop it from scattering, placing it beside the bins in hopes that the council would take it away.
Zoltan said his name happened to be on the cardboard box but instead of a thank you, a week later he received a fixed penalty notice for illegal dumping and £600 fine – and to his horror so did Veronika, despite her name not being on the box.
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The couple, from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, sent a letter to the council signed by several of their neighbours stating Zoltan, who works as a mechanic, and freelance videographer Veronika were not to blame and asking them to reconsider.
Despite their efforts, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has stood firm on the £1,200 fine, which the couple are paying off in instalments, considering the issue “resolved”.
Zoltan and Veronika, who have set up a GoFundMe to recoup some of the money lost, said they will never clear their street again “even if the rats come”.
“We just wanted to clean our street and that’s the thanks we get from the council,” Veronika told PA Real Life.
“At first I was very angry and I cried. I have volunteered for litter picking before and I essentially did the same thing and got two £600 penalties for nothing.”
The couple, who have lived at the address for more than nine years, said they have been battling a waste problem for some time, with people leaving household waste scattered around the street outside their home – including food leftovers and paper packaging.
“For the first few years it was ok but after that it’s always been messy in the street,” said Veronika.
“The bins are in front of our main entrance, it’s disgusting.”
Rubbish collection takes place every Wednesday morning but the couple said they only empty the bins and do not pick up what is around them. Over the years the couple have decided to clean the street themselves, sometimes with the help of their neighbours.
“A lot of people don’t use their own bin, they just put it on top of other people’s,” explained Zoltan.
The situation has become so severe that Veronika has spotted rats, cats and seagulls going through the litter.
“I’m actually afraid to walk past it in the street because I’ve seen a lot of rats and what looks like stray cats,” she said.
“They are attracted by the smell and tear through the plastic bags,” added Zoltan.
“That’s why there is so much rubbish scattered around the bins.”
At the end of April, Zoltan returned home from work and after seeing the rubbish blowing around in the wind, and decided to take matters into his own hands. Thinking he was doing his bit for the local community, Zoltan said he filled an old cardboard box with litter.
“We didn’t want to have to look at it for another week,” said Veronika.
He left the box by the bins, hoping the binmen would be able to collect it.
“I couldn’t put in the bins because they were full, so I left it beside them,” he said.
A week later, on May 8, the couple were shocked to receive a fixed penalty notice for “failing to transfer household waste to an authorised authority” demanding Zoltan and Veronika pay £600 each.
“There was a lot of rubbish lying around, but they don’t care, they just found one name on the box – Zoltan’s, and they charged us. It’s not fair,” said Veronika.
“Even though it was only my name on the box, they sent a fixed penalty to both of us. That’s very, very strange. I don’t understand why they sent a fixed penalty to Veronika.”
They received a letter from the City of Stoke-on-Trent Regulatory Services Environmental Crime Unit showing a picture of Zoltan’s box. It states the pair have “failed in their legal duty…” and points out that “under Section 34(ZA) Environmental Protection Act 1990; this constitutes an offence…”.
While Zoltan was able to pay the fine immediately, Veronika cannot afford it as she does not have a “steady income” working as a videographer. She has been placed on a payment plan, coughing up £100 a month for what she described as cleaning the street.
The couple tried to appeal over the council’s decision and said they contacted Citizens Advice but were told the law is “black and white”.
“Citizens Advice were really helpful and provided us with numbers to get legal advice,” Veronika said.
Zoltan even approached his neighbours and asked them to sign a letter confirming they “never left trash on the street” and demanding the council reconsider their decision.
“We wrote a letter to the council and asked our neighbours to sign it, to show them that I’m not a dirty person, I’m a clean person,” he said. All of them signed straight away because they all know me.”
After their experience, the couple said they will never clean their street again.
“We will do nothing,” said Veronika. “Even if the rats come, we are too afraid to do anything now.”
Councillor Amjid Wazir OBE, cabinet member for city pride, enforcement and sustainability advised: “This matter has been resolved and all liability discharged.
“We remind residents and businesses that fly-tipping is an offence and all perpetrators will be met with a fixed penalty notice.”
To support Zoltan and Veronkia click the link here.
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