Council jobsworths threatened to fine me £75 for leaving my wheelie bin open by just 5CM – it’s ridiculous

A MUM has told how she was threatened with a £75 fine for leaving her wheelie bin open by 5CM.
Famy Meyzineva, from Connah’s Quay, North Wales, was confused and upset when she found a sticker warning of a fixed penalty notice on the side of her bins.
It said that she would be slapped with the fine if they discovered her bin with “side waste” again.
But Famy claims there was no side waste and that the lid was left just “5cm to 6cm” ajar.
She told North Wales Live: “Like it always is. And like how everyone else on the street leaves their bins.”
When she posted about the sticker on Facebook, other local residents piled in with similar experiences.
One person said: “I also had one as the lid was an inch short of closing.
“Bet the Sticker Fairy had a busy day!”
Others slammed Flintshire Council’s draconian “side-waste” rules which locals believe is contributing to fly-tipping in the area.
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And Famy says the only reason her bin was full in the first place is because the council had not given her a separate “nappy” box.
She explained: “We have four people in my family, with two babies still in nappies, so I fill my bin very quickly.
“I recycle everything, even plastic bread bags.
“I applied for a bin for nappies but I’ve still not heard anything from the council.”
The side wate rules were reintroduced by the council in September last year.
It is enforced to try and catch out serial offenders who “continually leave extra bags of rubbish out for collection alongside the normal wheelie bins”.
Fixed penalty notices are issued only as a last resort after residents have received a warning, followed by a Section 46 notice of intent to take action, according to the council.
So far, in the whole of Wales, just two penalties have been handed out.
A spokesperson for the council said: “Additional bags or items that are next to the wheelie bin, or wheelie bins that are overflowing and the lid cannot fully close, will not be collected.”