A COUNCIL has fined a man £1,000 for alleged fly-tipping after he put a an empty envelope in the bin.
Nidas Ratkevicius, 46, was left “shocked” when he received the penalty, claiming he was simply throwing it into a wheelie bin on the street.
It comes just months after a single mum was also fined £1,000 for throwing an envelope on top of rubbish next to an overflowing bin.
An estate manager from Farnborough, Hampshire, Nidas was passing through the London borough when he disposed of a brown A5 envelope in February.
The council has now reportedly put the penalty on hold after saying the evidence remains inconclusive and he has denied the offence.
The Lithuanian national, who has lived in the UK since 2002, often drives to Hounslow before getting the underground into central London for work.
He told The Sun: “I ordered a light bulb from Screwfix or whatever, it was delivered to my house. I needed to take it to work.
“I drove to Hounslow West underground station and left my car and saw an open wheelie bin on the road.
“I was walking by and maybe I just put the envelope inside, I never thought it was some kind of issue.”
Nidas said the bins were open and “fully covered under a pile of rubbish” surrounded by mattresses and chairs with no signs and CCTV cameras nearby.
The following week, Nidas received a letter from Hounslow Council accusing him of fly-tipping, requesting he fill out a questionnaire.
He added: “I was very honest, I stated everything. I never accepted it because I honestly don’t remember.”
Two days later, he received a fixed penalty notice for £1,000.
“It was just a joke. And £1000, I was scared,” he said.
“I’m always an honest person and I will never, never in my life fly-tip. It’s just not me.
“It’s actually shocking. I never thought this was actually possible in the UK. They just want to maximise their revenue and profits”.
Nidas paid the £1,000 penalty saying he doesn’t “have time to be taken to court”.
He says he is now awaiting an outcome after challenging the decision and is told a team is reviewing the fine.
Nidas said: “I need people to know, it’s not fair. If I actually did, you have three bloody cameras two metres from these wheelie bins. Show it to me.”
A spokesperson for Hounslow Council said: “We thank Mr Ratkevicius for bringing this matter to our attention. Because Mr Ratkevicius has not admitted to the offence, and early evidence in this case remains inconclusive, we have put the FPN on hold while we investigate further.
“Evidence linking this individual to a bag of fly-tipped waste (an addressed envelope bearing Mr Ratkevicius’ name and address) was found in one of our borough’s fly-tipping hotspots.
“We are inviting Mr Ratkevicius to attend an interview under caution to help us understand how and why waste linked to his address came to be dumped at this location.
“In addition to this interview, we will also be reviewing CCTV from the area to help us understand how this waste came to be dumped. We are grateful for any information Mr Ratkevicius is able to provide to assist us with our investigation.”
Earlier this month, the council had promised to crack down on fly-tipping with 27,000 incidents in the borough over the 12 months.
They said Hounslow has the fifth highest rate of fly-tipping in London and a total cost of around £4million per year.
It’s not the only time Hounslow Council has sparked outrage with a fly-tipping fine either.
Last November, Lorretta Alvarez put an envelope on top of some boxes by the communal bins used by her and 34 other flats in her block in Feltham, West London.
The nurse was tracked down from the address on the envelope and told unless she pays the £1,000 fly-tipping fine, they will take legal action.
