Mum who put envelope in public waste bin faces interview under caution

SHE SAYS: 'WHAT'S HAPPENED IS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS'

- By ANDREW FORGRAVE Countryside and Tourism Editor [e-mail]

A MUM is facing fly-tipping charges after retrieving a small parcel from an Aldi collection locker.

Natasha Sheldon Lane, 35, has been asked to attend an "interview under caution" after the parcel’s plastic envelope was found in a public waste bin.

Keen to check the correct order had been sent, she unwrapped the parcel and tossed its non-recyclable wrapper into a black bin on Duke Street, Flint. She thought little more about it until receiving a letter in the post from Flintshire Council's environmental enforcement team.

This accused her of the “unlawful depositing of waste” under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Summoned to an interview with an environmental crime officer at the council’s Alltami depot, Natasha was advised she could bring a solicitor at her own cost.

As she's a mum of two who is a full-time carer for her youngest child, aged 13, who has additional needs, she can't get to the depot. Instead, a crime officer was due to visit her home yesterday.

“I spoke to the officer this morning,” she said. “He told me I could be facing fly-tipping charges with a £300 fine. He said he also has discretion to impose a £75 littering fine instead. If I could afford a solicitor, I would be fighting this all the way.”

Natasha realises she made three crucial mistakes: not ripping up the plastic envelope, to conceal her address; admitting to officers she had placed the envelope in the bin; and not realising a flimsy piece of plastic could land her in so much trouble.