'I got £50 fine for binning rubbish'

David Ross

David Ross, 31, was shocked to be handed the fine after being told a bag of his rubbish had been found lying on the street near to his home in Nicolson Street.

He is now planning to appeal the fine, after insisting his rubbish was correctly dumped in a communal bin, which has in the past been targeted by vandals and vagrants.

Mr Ross said he had even informed the police about problems with the local rubbish bins, including one incident which saw rubbish thrown over the street by vandals using the bin as a battering ram.

After refusing to accept the fine, Mr Ross has now been warned the matter could go before the courts.

Having put out his rubbish on Friday night, Mr Ross said he answered the door on Saturday morning to two environmental wardens holding a black bag.

He was told the bag of rubbish had been dumped on Haddon's Court, the street behind his flat, and that, having investigated the contents, they had traced it back to him through an old bill discovered inside.

They then informed him he was being fined 50 for dumping the bag on the street, despite his insistence he had placed it inside the on-street bin.

As the rubbish bag was found on Haddon's Court, and as Mr Ross stays on Nicolson Street, the council has taken the view that he has dumped his rubbish in the wrong area and so is liable to pay a fine.

But Mr Ross insisted that the bin on Haddon's Court was the one he had always used, as it was closest to his property.

"I was a little stunned when I opened the door on Saturday morning to see two environmental wardens with a bag of rubbish," he said.

"I told them there had been complaints to the police about vandals attacking the bin, and I've seen people going through the rubbish at night as well, looking for scraps.

"What I find difficult to understand is why they are fining me. I put my rubbish in the bin, but because they found it on the street they are fining me."

The council confirmed that a bag of rubbish containing evidence linked to Mr Ross was found on the ground beside a communal wheelie bin on Haddon's Court following an inspection by the council's environmental wardens.

A spokeswoman said: "We are satisfied that our environmental wardens have taken the correct course of action in this case. The council is committed to keeping Edinburgh's streets clean and tidy, and as such we take a tough stance on any offenders who do not dispose of their waste responsibly."