A man was issued a £200 fine by a warden from a cash-strapped council after he dropped a teabag from his McDonald’s cup on the ground.
Peter Murray said he was sitting in his car with a cup of tea in Poole, Dorset when he went to remove the used bag but it burnt his fingers, so he ‘threw it in the direction of his car door pocket.’
He claims he didn’t realise it missed and actually fell through his open door and landed on the ground.
A warden for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council (BCP) – which is run by the Liberal Democrats – then approached Mr Murray and issued him with a £200 fine for littering.
The penalty would be dropped to £100 if he paid up within 14 days, he was told.
Residents were outraged by the fine, and accused the council of hypocrasy over a failure to challenge visitors who leave mountains of rubbish at popular beauty spots such as Bournemouth Beach.
Mr Murray said he was made to feel like a criminal over the accidental act and that the warden ignored his protestations that he still had the rest of his McDonald’s waste ready to throw away.
He said: ‘We just spent the weekend at Sandford campsite. After checking out we decided to go to the McDonald’s four miles down the road.
Peter Murray says he was handed a £200 fine after accidentally dropping the teabag on the floor
Mr Murray had been to his local McDonalds and purchased a cup of tea, which he was drinking in his car with his dog
‘As we were sat outside eating our breakfast I was approached by an officer who said he worked for BCP Council.
‘He then went on to say I was being fined £200 for dropping a teabag onto the ground.
‘I had just made the tea from McDonald’s and burnt my fingers taking the teabag out of the cup so I threw it in the door pocket without thinking.
‘The teabag fell through the gap of the door and onto the ground under my car.
‘He was watching me apparently and because I never picked it up quickly a fine was issued.
‘All the McDonald’s packaging was still inside my car awaiting to be dropped into the bins. He was shown this but was not interested.’
Mr Murray said he was left ‘angry’ by the incident, adding he has ‘never committed a crime in my life’.
‘This is a warning to everyone who eats at fast food restaurants in the Poole area – these people are watching,’ he said.
The incident happened outside the McDonald’s restaurant at the Nuffield Industrial Estate in Poole on Monday morning.
Mr Murray took a photograph of the teabag on the ground after being issued with the fine
He claims his car door was open at the time and he had been aiming for its pocket but missed
A spokesperson for BCP Council said that the fixed penalty notice issued to Mr Murray has since been cancelled.
The Liberal Democrat-led council has been accused of double standards, over claims enforcement officers fail to challenge selfish litter louts who leave Bournemouth beach covered in rubbish during the summer.
In Bournemouth, the local council launched a clampdown on littering in 2023.
It employed a private company called Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) to dish out on-the-spot fines to offenders.
But the contractors have previously been accused of going after easy targets, with wardens watching and waiting for smokers dropping cigarette butts.
During the May heatwave BCP Council had to clear up 83 tonnes of litter that had been left on Bournemouth beach by visitors.
Local residents said the litter wardens should have the ‘nerve’ to target those people instead.
Wayne King said: ‘I get frustrated with this because these same people don’t have the nerve to serve fines at Bournemouth beach. They go after the easy prey.’
Maureen White posted: ‘They don’t bother with the visitors wrecking our beaches with their rubbish.’
Lorraine Trevett said: ‘They’d be better off spending their time on Bournemouth and Poole beaches dealing with the much publicised mounds of litter left behind rather than lurking around takeaway car parks, there would be plenty to keep them busy on the beaches.’
It is not the only over-zealous littering fine to have been issued in recent months. A woman was fined £150 for pouring the remnants of her coffee down a drain in south west London last year.
And an 86-year-old man was fined £250 by environmental enforcement officers in Skegness, Lincolnshire, for littering after spitting out a leaf that blew into his mouth.
