Woman arrested for dumping rubbish in wrong colour bags
A MOTHER was arrested and taken to a police cell after being accused of putting her rubbish out in the wrong colour bin bags.
Lyndsey Webb was detained by two officers after “falling foul” of new recycling rules in Ipswich, Suffolk.
A court heard that the 34-year-old was caught dumping household waste in black bags near her home after Ipswich Borough Council allegedly failed to send her new orange-coloured ones. After giving evidence via video link from her cell, she was eventually given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £50 compensation.
Last night Ms Webb said householders were “totally in the dark” about how to recycle properly and accused the council of putting her family through “a total nightmare”.
It comes after The Daily Telegraph launched a Zero Waste campaign calling on the Government, local councils and private companies to do more to boost the country’s recycling rates and make the process simpler.
Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed that just a fifth of councils provides a complete recycling service, leaving householders in a postcode lottery of waste disposal, and confused as to what they should put in their bins.
Suffolk magistrates court in Ipswich
‘All I did was get the colour of my rubbish bags wrong and I’ve suddenly got two police officers at my door’
heard that Ms Webb was among a small number of residents in the town who were allowed to put black bin bags containing waste outside their homes if they did not have space for wheelie bins. But magistrates were told that the system changed when residents were issued with two types of bags – orange and clear – to encourage recycling. Ms Webb claimed that Ipswich Borough Council gave her permission to put out black bags after she was not issued with orange and clear ones in time. But prosecutors alleged that Ms Webb, of St Helen’s Street, Ipswich, was caught dumping the black bags late at night by CCTV cameras on three occasions.
She was summonsed to Suffolk magistrates court by the council to face four offences of fly tipping household waste. A warrant was issued after she failed to attend court and she was arrested and taken into police custody.
After the hearing Ms Webb told The Telegraph: “All I did was get the colour of my rubbish bags wrong and I’ve suddenly got two police officers at my door arresting me in front of my kids. It’s ridiculous.”
A council spokesman said: “She was dumping a large quantity of bags outside a shop in an alleyway… She was arrested under warrant because of her failure to attend court.”