Couple who cleaned up rubbish outside own home vow to 'never help again' after being fined £1.2k

The couple claimed the “disgusting” mess scattered outside the terrace house was not being collected.

It also meant rats were beginning to scurry around.

Pinter cleared up the rubbish by piling the mess into a cardboard box labelled with his name in April this year.

He hoped the box would be collected if he left it next to his household refuse, but binmen decided the box itself counted as litter.

The couple were fined £600 each after being issued with an illegal dumping notice.

Stoke-on-Trent city council said they had fined the duo for "failing to transfer household waste to an authorised authority".

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Pinter said: "I couldn't put in the bins because they were full, so I left it beside them."

"We didn't want to have to look at it for another week," Mike added.

"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.

"Even though it was only my name on the box, they sent a fixed penalty to both of us. That's very, very strange."

The couple have since drafted a letter to the council - including signatures from several neighbours protesting their innocence.

However, Councillor Amjid Wazir OBE, cabinet member for city pride, enforcement and sustainability said: "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."