Pensioner’s life made a misery by banana skin-throwing prankster

A desperate pensioner plagued by a prankster throwing banana skins in to her garden has made a last-ditch appeal for police action. Ann Quick, 88, who lives in Clitheroe, Lancashire, has been the victim of a 14-month-long harassment campaign where a cruel prankster has been throwing banana skins into her rear yard. Now, police are stepping up patrols in the area and warning the prankster to stop being a nuisance.

Mother-of-two Ann, who moved to Clitheroe from Liverpool 11 years ago after her husband died, says “enough is enough” and no longer sees the funny side of this. “I enjoy living in Clitheroe and moved here to be closer to my daughter,” said Ann. “I keep myself to myself and have never bothered anyone. I first noticed the banana peels 14 months ago. At one time there were 22 on the roof of an outhouse in my rear yard. I had to climb a ladder and use a long brush to get rid of them. I just thought it was some school prankster who finds it funny. However, this has continued and it is now making my life a misery.”



Ann, who has four grandchildren, added: “I am 88 years old and suffer from osteoporosis. It takes one banana peel for me to slip and that’s it, I will suffer serious injuries. My neighbours have also discovered banana peels in their gardens too. They cannot understand why someone would do that. It’s hard to catch the offender because he/she strikes at different times of the day. I’ve had enough, it’s too much for me and my plea to the prankster is to stop now. The funny thing is I don’t like eating fruit at all. In fact, the last time I ate a banana was three years ago.”

Police officers have vowed to come down hard on the culprit and have warned he/she is already on a slippery slope. PC Mark Parrington, of Clitheroe Police, said: “We were first alerted about this problem in November last year and then again in April. We had patrols in the area in the past and it seems the problem stopped for while, however, it seems the prankster is back. Whoever is littering Ann’s garden, we would urge them to stop immediately. This is affecting the life and well being of a pensioner and it’s not fair. If caught, the offender could face a harassment charge and will be dealt with severely.”