Elderly widow threatened with £2,500 fine for dropping cigarette ash

A pensioner from the Black Country has insisted she would rather go to jail than pay a fine after saying she was penalised for dropping cigarette ash on the floor. Sheila Martin from Oldbury has refused to pay a £75 fixed penalty notice served by Sandwell Council for littering as she smoked while waiting for a bus.

The 70-year-old has been warned that she could be brought before the courts and face a fine of up to £2,500 and pay costs of the hearing against her. But the widow of Hill Top Road says she does not believe she should have been ticketed and does not plan on paying any bill.



She was approached by a warden as she waited for the 446 bus in Bristnall Hall Road on May 26 this year and handed the penalty notice. The mother-of-two said: “I think it is disgusting. All I did was smoke a cigarette while waiting for the bus and some cigarette ash went on the floor. I didn’t drop any litter. It is one of the few things I can afford to buy. It is just wrong and I have no intention of paying a fine. I would rather go to prison.”

The letter sent to Mrs Martin from the council states: “The fixed penalty notice scheme offers you the opportunity to discharge your liability to prosecution by making a fixed penalty payment. As full payment has not been received this matter has been referred to the prosecution team for consideration.”