Walker fined £80 for dropping cherry stones

A WALKER was left outraged after being fined £80 for littering – because he had dropped some cherry stones.

Mr Hughes, 47, had been eating a bag of the fruit while walking in Birkenhead when he was stopped by two litter officers.

They said they had seen him discard ‘several cherry stones and a whole cherry’ and handed him an on-the-spot £80 fine.

Last night, the former environmental worker said he was ‘stunned’ by the plainclothes wardens’ behaviour.

He said he told the officers, from controversial firm Kingdom and contracted to work for Wirral Council, that there were other seeds and berries falling off trees.

Mr Hughes, from Birkenhead, said: ‘The area I threw each stone, on its own, wasn’t where anyone sits or walks. It was in grass, among twigs, seeds and leaves. The worst thing that could happen would be for a cherry tree to grow.’

Kingdom, who are known as the ‘litter stasi’ because of their heavy-handed tactics, have been employed by Labour-run Wirral Council for the past two years.

Councillor Phil Brightmore, cabinet member for the environment at the council, said they would ‘ make no apology’ for a zero-tolerance approach.