A couple who were landed with a £1,200 fine for tidying up rubbish outside their home have vowed to never help again ‘even if the rats come’.
Veronika Mike, 41 and Zoltan Pinter, 46, from Stoke-on-Trent had been plagued with bin woes when waste was thoughtlessly left outside their two-bedroom home.
They say the ‘disgusting’ mess scattered outside their terraced property wasn’t being collected to the point rats were beginning to scurry around.
On April 29, Zoltan decided to take control of the situation, clearing up the messy street using a cardboard labelled with his name to collect the discarded rubbish.
When he left the box next to the bin, he had hoped it would be collected. But he wasn’t given the thanks he was expecting for his selfless act.
Instead he was hit with an illegal dumping notice as well as a £600 fine from Stoke-on-Trent city council for ‘failing to transfer household waste to an authorised authority’.
Veronika, 41, and Zoltan Pinter, 46 have been hit with a £1,200 after tidying up the rubbish outside their home
Having been plagued with waste issue for years – that even attracted rats, seagulls and cats – Zoltan decided to take matters into his own hands (pictured)
To rub salt in the wound, his partner Veronika has also been slammed with the same fine – even though her name was not on the cardboard box.
‘I couldn’t put in the bins because they were full, so I left it beside them,’ Zoltan explained.
‘We didn’t want to have to look at it for another week,’ his partner Veronika added.
‘There was a lot of rubbish lying around, but they don’t care, they just found one name on the box Zoltan’s, and they charged us. It’s not fair.
She added: ‘Even though it was only my name on the box, they sent a fixed penalty to both of us. That’s very, very strange.’
‘I don’t understand why they sent a fixed penalty to Veronika,’ Zoltan noted.
While mechanic Zoltan could pay the debt in full immediately, his partner, who is a freelance videographer doesn’t have a steady income and is now force to fork out a £100 a month for what she maintains as cleaning the street.
The distraught couple have since drafted a letter to the council with several neighbours signing – attesting to their innocence.
The letter requested the council acknowledge Zoltan and Veronika we not responsible for the waste scattered on the street.
‘They all signed immediately because they all know me,’ Zoltan said.
Using a cardboard box labelled with his name, the mechanic collected the rubbish scattered along the street
However instead of a thank you, Zoltan and his partner were both hit with a £600 despite her name not even being on the cardboard box
Despite their pleas, Stoke-on-Trent city council have remained steadfast in their decision to repeal the fine and consider the situation ‘resolved’, according to Stoke-on-Trent.
Following the incident, the pair are to ‘afraid’ to help clean their street.
‘We will do nothing,’ Veronika vowed. ‘Even if the rats come, we are too afraid to do anything now.’
The pair have set up a GoFundMe in a bid to get back some of the money they lost to the hefty fine.
Veronica said: ‘We just wanted to clean our street and that’s the thanks we get from the council,’ and lamented receiving two £600 penalties for merely trying to keep their neighbourhood tidy.
‘At first I was very angry and I cried. I have volunteered for litter picking before and I essentially did the same thing and got two £600 penalties for nothing.’
The couple have lived in their current home for nearly a decade and have detailed their ongoing ordeal with local waste management.
They claim food leftovers as well as paper packaging are forever being carelessly dumped on their street.
‘For the first few years it was okay but after that it’s always been messy in the street,’ Veronika added.
‘The bins are in front of our main entrance, it’s disgusting.’
While rubbish collection is scheduled every Wednesday morning, Zoltan and Veronika claimed the collectors only empty the bins without bothering to pick up the surrounding waste.
Zoltan alleges staff only collect waste from the bins on their route every Monday, failing to pick up the rubbish scattered around.
However it hasn’t only been the couple who have decided to take action, their neighbours have also tried to clean the street.
‘A lot of people don’t use their own bin, they just put it on top of other people’s,’ Zoltan explained.
The problem has become so severe, Veronika has witnessed seagulls, cats and rats scavenging their way through the mess.
The pair tried to appeal the decision, sending a letter to the council with co-signatures from their neighbours but Stoke-on-Trent said the matter was ‘resolved’
The couple have now vowed to never help again ‘even if the rats come’ as they fear they could be hit with another fine
‘I’m actually afraid to walk past it in the street because I’ve seen a lot of rats and what looks like stray cats,’ she said.
‘They are attracted by the smell and tear through the plastic bags. That’s why there is so much rubbish scattered around the bins,’ Zoltan added.
Councillor Amjid Wazir OBE, cabinet member for city pride, enforcement and sustainability said: ‘This matter has been resolved and all liability discharged.
‘We remind residents and businesses that fly-tipping is an offence and all perpetrators will be met with a fixed penalty notice.’