Sam also said she did not think the fine was appropriate because by the time the officer approached them, the offending ‘litter’ was gone – having been eaten by the pigeons.
“The bit of tortilla was actually gone,” she said. “I pointed it out to him and said, ‘Look at the floor, this discarded food that you’re talking about is already long gone’.”
Sam said when she gave the officer her ID she did not know she was being issued a fine.
“I thought he said he would just give us a warning and then he asked for my ID and obviously I handed it over, not thinking, but then as soon as he took my details, that was it – and it was an £150 fine.”
Sam said her and her partner, who is disabled, were living on a “shoestring” budget after recently moving to a new home in Huddersfield.
“We’ve only recently moved – like, we’ve still not got our furniture – to to be hit with a fine like that, especially for something as simple as feeding a bird…” she said.
“I mean, there are bigger things going on in the world.”