Burcu Yesilyurt handed fixed-penalty notice by enforcement officers near Richmond station
A woman from west London said she was “shocked” after being fined £150 for pouring the dregs of her morning coffee down a street drain as she waited for a bus.
Burcu Yesilyurt said she believed she was doing the right thing by emptying her reusable cup before getting on a bus to work. But moments later, she was confronted by three enforcement officers near Richmond station and handed a fixed-penalty notice.
“I noticed my bus was approaching, so I just poured the leftover bit,” Yesilyurt told the BBC. “It wasn’t much – just a tiny little bit. As soon as I turned around, three men, enforcement officers, were chasing me, and they stopped me immediately. I thought it was about the bus. I had no clue pouring liquid into a drain was illegal. It was quite a shock.”
The officers told her she was in breach of section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which makes it an offence to dispose of waste in a way that could pollute land or water. Richmond upon Thames council said its officers “acted professionally and objectively” and that the fine had been issued in line with council policy.
