Woman filmed and fined £500 after leaving IKEA cabinet outside home for passers-by to take

A woman from Bournemouth was left “really shocked” at being fined £500 for fly-tipping after leaving a cabinet outside her home for passers-by to take.

Isabelle Pepin told Sky News she left the medium-sized IKEA cabinet, which had stored children’s toys in her son’s room, against her front wall.

The graphic designer and artist said after five days a council officer knocked on her door to tell her there was a problem with it being there so she moved it back onto her property and then disposed of it.

But she said she was left “very surprised” when she got another knock on the door three weeks later and was presented with a £500 fine for fly-tipping.

“I got a knock on the door with a man with an enforcement camera on his chest, telling me he is filming me,” she said.

“He read the caution speech to me – so that was very nerve-wracking. And then he issued me with a £500 fine for fly-tipping.”

Ms Pepin said she had to challenge the fine in writing and go through an appeal process with a third-party enforcement company Bournemouth Council uses to issue such fines.

She has had “overwhelming support” from the local community, she said, with one resident saying they have been “doing this for years, they had no idea they were fly-tipping”.

She said she has also been contacted with messages of support by several local councillors and added: “Hopefully the appeal process will be successful and the fine will be dropped.”

Ms Pepin added: “Actually it’s a nice thing to do for your community and a good way to recycle useful, unwanted items. We’re all supposed to be trying to be greener – recycle, reduce, reuse.

“I think it’s wasteful to throw away something that’s still got a lot of life in it, I think it’s far better to pass it on to somebody else who’s going to get a few more years’ use out of it.

“I think people have been doing this for the last decade without any idea that could be construed as flytipping and they could possibly get a fine.”

Bournemouth councillor Kieron Wilson said: “Action on fly-tipping is taken to ensure communities can fully enjoy the place where they live and have pride in their neighbourhood.”

Kelly Deane, the council’s director of housing and communities, said: “Since April 2023 73 fly-tipping penalty notices have been issued, with 15 issued in the last month alone.

“Since April 2024, the council has increased fines for fly tipping to the maximum of £1,000, in line with government legislation, showing a robust approach.”

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