Yahoo News Livid Luis lands £400 council fine after bin-dippers rifle through this rubbish
A Staffordshire University student has hit out at bin-dippers - after landing a £400 fly-tipping fine. Luis Boyd lived in a student complex, on London Road, in Stoke, with publicly-accessible bins which were targeted by bin-dippers.
It led the 23-year-old to land the fly-tipping fine when personal correspondence was removed from the bin and later appeared 10-minutes' walk away on Floyd Street.
Now Luis says it is unfair that Stoke-on-Trent City Council is fining students when they have no control over who rummages through their bins.
READ: 496-day-old Papa Johns pizza receipt lands couple with £1.2k fly-tipping fine - David and Kelley Shropshire, from Smallthorne, are refusing to pay the Stoke-on-Trent City Council penalty
READ: Council snooping through public bin fine couple £400 for throwing away envelope - Deborah and Ian Day, from Bentilee, would rather go to prison than pay the Stoke-on-Trent City Council fine
He said: “The problem with students is that they typically live in accommodation where the bins are available to be opened by anyone. They don’t have any control over the security of their waste.
“If you had any control over your waste, you could take measures to prevent someone accessing it. But when it’s not directly controlled by the student, it's hard to prevent others from stealing your waste. There’s no way to monitor the bins 24/7.
“It looked like someone had taken a tied-up bag and all the rubbish had fallen out, including the letter. I would like to spread awareness about the situation and what students can do to protect themselves. Especially for someone who is 18, just coming to university, and it’s the first time away from home. Some people are taught to rip up a letter, others have a different upbringing.”
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has investigated Luis' case.
A council spokesman said: “Stoke-on-Trent City Council is maintaining its zero-tolerance approach to illegal dumping in our towns and with that comes enforcement. We are continuing with proactive patrolling and investigations. Once an area is under investigation and while evidence is being processed, we arrange for the removal of the waste with our cleansing teams.
"Our environmental crime team is in contact with the resident. We are committed to working together to clean up our city and will enforce, where evidence supports, against waste offences.”
