A woman from Leeds has been handed a bill of almost £1,000 for leaving her bins out for five months.
Yasmine Rushfirth of Nowell Grove, Harehills, was given six reminders and warnings about leaving her wheelie bins outside her house.
But after numerous complaints by residents and ignoring a fixed penalty notice, Rushfirth was taken to Leeds Magistrates Court and issued with a bill for fines and costs totalling just under £970.
The court heard that Rushfirth was first asked to take her bins back into her property in October 2011 as part of efforts by council bosses to clean up the area.
Because of a problem with litter on the Nowells, 125 other residents also received the same letter.
After almost two and half months and several complaints from local residents, Rushfirth’s bins were still left out on the street, the court was told.
Numerous attempts to contact Rushfirth were made with offers of help and legal notices were issued to encourage her to put the bins away.
Because of her failure to take any action, a fixed penalty notice was issued in March 2012.
The penalty wasn’t paid and Rushfirth was prosecuted and the case was heard at Leeds Magistrates court last week.
Rushfirth was ordered to pay a £100 fine, £851.13 in costs and a £15 victim surcharge.
Councillor Mark Dobson, Leeds City Council’s executive member for the environment, said: “Leaving bins out for this length of time just isn’t an option.
“They cause an obstruction, it can encourage people to misuse them and contributes to litter.
“We will take action when needed and indeed it’s residents themselves who are demanding that we take a tougher line.
“We’ve made a commitment to provide a waste and recycling service that’s right for our residents and to work with residents to keep their neighbourhoods clean.
“For these commitments to produce results we need residents to work with us to put their bins out in time for collection and to put them away as soon as is practical once they’re emptied.”