5ft 2in mum's £50 penalty for leaving bag by receptacle

A YOUNG mother who found she was too short to use a new style of wheelie bin has been fined - after giving up and leaving her rubbish bag beside it.

• Miriam Leighton struggles to use the bin

Miriam Leighton, 29, was hit with a 50 penalty on Monday after environmental health officers traced the misplaced waste to her Fountainbridge home.

The 5ft 2in woman unsuccessfully appealed the charge claiming she was too petite to operate the new hand-activated communal bins.

Ms Leighton, a former occupational therapist, also claimed the bins had been poorly designed and could induce back pain.

"I think there are mitigating circumstances here and it's unfair the council can fine members of the public for not being able to use these poorly-designed facilities," she said.

"I left a bin bag out next to the new rubbish skips on our street because I was having difficulty actually getting the bag into the skip because of its design.

"You have to lift the catch, hold the lid up and then heave a heavy bag over your shoulder and into the bin. For people who are a bit shorter, like me, it's very difficult to use.

"So I just left the bag next to it thinking maybe someone would do me a favour and put it in. But the next day environmental wardens came, went thought my rubbish and they got my address. They came to the door and issued a fixed penalty notice."

Mother-of-one Ms Leighton said she accepted that she must pay the fine or face a heavy penalty, but was frustrated by what she said was a bad design.

"I realise I am probably going to have to pay it," she said. "I was told if I didn't, I would face a 40,000 fine or five years in prison.

"But my background is in occupational therapy and from my point of view the manoeuvre the user is expected to do to dump their rubbish is risky and there's danger of injury."

She added: "Obviously (the council] is doing this for money. They are strapped for cash at the moment and this is just extra revenue for them.

"They have fined a member of the public for not being able to use a facility that has been poorly designed and is not very accessible."

The city council replaced foot-pedal wheelie bins in Fountainbridge in June and said it had not recorded a single complaint about the new refuse containers.

A council spokeswoman said: "We are sorry to hear that there is an issue with the mechanism, however we have no knowledge of this and will now carry out an investigation."

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