UK Edition
Litter wardens suspended after woman fined £80 for feeding ducks
Over-zealous litter wardens have been suspended by a local council after a woman was given an £80 fine for feeding the ducks.
The unnamed woman was handed the on-the-spot penalty after she was caught throwing breadcrumbs near the River Loose, in Maidstone, Kent.
The warden insisted he “couldn’t see any ducks” and fined her for littering.
Following an appeal in front of Maidstone Borough Council, the fine was cancelled and the town’s entire litter patrol taken off the streets for retraining.
The council has used a team of litter wardens from private firm Kingdom Security since 2011, during which the group has issued more than 20,000 tickets. Since September 2015, the litter wardens have handed out 2,116 penalties worth just under £170,000 – half of which goes to the council and the remaining funds paid to Kingdom Security.
But earlier this month the entire team of ten litter wardens were suspended while chiefs at Maidstone Borough Council conducted a “review” of the contract with Kingdom Security.
A spokesman for the council confirmed the review was “in part” due to the improper fine for feeding ducks.
Alison Broom, chief executive of the council, said: “"It was decided at an operational level that the litter enforcement service would be reassessed with the aim of ensuring that Kingdom Security is providing the best response to our priority of providing a clean and safe environment.”
In July this year, two men were threatened with fines for “dropping cigarette butts” in the Detling area of Maidstone as they put up a church fence.
The men said they had put their cigarette butts in their wheelbarrows and the warden decided against the fine. But footage of the incident was uploaded onto Facebook and viewed nearly 300,000 times.
According to the council nobody has lost their jobs as a result of the review and that the jobs have merely been 'on hold' since September 16 while the review takes place.
Local Richard Brand, 43, said: "I thought I hadn't seen these litter wardens hanging around for the last couple of weeks.
"They usually wander around Maidstone town centre and pounce on anyone - I saw one of them speak to an old lady who accidentally dropped a receipt as she came out of a shop.
"Three people went over to speak to the warden and he didn't issue the fine in the end - but they are like vultures most of the time."