A kind-hearted stranger has stepped in to pay a pensioner’s fine after he was charged £200 for tidying up an overflowing council bin.
But William Strawn, 86, has already paid the penalty, and said he did not want to accept offers of help.
Mr Strawn, who lives in Burntisland, was handed the fine on his doorstep days after he tried to tidy up the overflowing recycling bin which Fife Council had failed to empty.
He had put his old newspapers in a bag next to the bin rather than dump them on top of the full recycling container where they would have blown away.
Mr Strawn first tidied up other bags of rubbish left at the bin. Then he added his own papers to one of the sacks.
But a few days later he opened his front door to discover he was being handed his local council’s largest- possible fly-tipping fine in the week before Christmas.
A good Samaritan heard about his plight and offered to pay his fine.
The woman, who lives near Glasgow, had been angry at the council’s “heavy handedness”.
Council officers had gone through the bags in the recycling centre at the car park and delivered £200 fixed penalties to eight people, whose names and addresses were found within the waste.
The council has confirmed its stance has not changed and the fines will still stand.
Mr Strawn’s daughter, Jeanette Malone, said the family had been moved by the kindness of people to her dad’s situation.
She said: “My father has already paid. He is from a generation where people obey the law.
“He didn’t want to face the prospect of being taken to court if he didn’t pay.
“This is a very kind offer and we are grateful, but we can’t accept. I will contact her to thank her and explain.
“It’s not the end of the matter as I have made a complaint on the council’s website.”
Councillor George Kay, who represents Burntisland, has written to the council, asking it to review its policy and recall the fines in this instance, saying its efforts to inform the public on its stance had failed.
He said: “I know many of the people involved and they are the backbone of our communities.”
Mr Strawn, a retired shipbuilder, previously said he had never been in trouble with the law before.
He said: “I was only trying to do the right thing.”
Mark McCall, service manager, said: “Previous years have seen increased fly-tipping at recycling points over Christmas and New Year.
“This year we undertook a large campaign, including additional signage, prior to the holiday period to advise members of the public not to dump material at the recycling points.”