Sylvie Ludlow was left speechless with shock after she received a letter from the councilor asking her to pay a heavy fine on charges of littering and treating her like a criminal. The poor woman's only crime is that she feeds ducks on her way home from the market. However, after her partner took to social media to raise voice, the council had to scrape her fine and let her get away with a warning.
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According to the Daily Mirror, a 73-year-old woman from Bexleyheath who feeds ducks every week says she was handed a huge fine and treated like a criminal, and accused of littering.
The woman says she is charged $98 dollars when she received a letter in her letterbox. The woman in question, Sylvie Ludlow, said she usually feeds the ducks every week after visiting the market and when she walks past St Saviour's Walk in Dartford where there are plenty of birds happy to be fed.
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However, the council interpreted her actions in the opposite manner and saw a woman discarding bread and food on the floor and walking away, which ultimately sounds like littering.
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The woman was speechless after receiving the fine for something as simple as feeding the ducks.
She said: "I have never committed a crime in all my life. I was so upset and shocked to be accused of littering.
"I was treated like a criminal. It is not littering, as soon as you leave the seeds and bread it is gone. I actually pick up other people's litter when I see it.
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"I pick up plastic bottles or cans and I recycle them. So to be accused of littering was so upsetting."
Though Sylvie is lucky that her fine was dropped after her partner, Mark Smith, took to social media to ask other local residents whether they had received similar punishments.
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Many people responded to the post and said they'd had experiences like Sylvie's, and local councillor Jeremy Kite was able to get the fine scrapped.
Though Sylvie confirms that even if the councilor didn't scrape her fine, she wouldn't have paid so because she doesn't think it's an offence to feed the ducks.
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A spokesperson for Dartford council said that while they would 'never want to discourage anyone' from feeding the ducks and acknowledged there was no need for a fine in this situation, they didn't want too many people feeding bread to the ducks because it can be 'harmful' or 'encourage vermin'.
In fact, they asked people that when feeding ducks, they should bring a variety of food including sweetcorn, oats, seeds and rice.
There are actually some facts behind this as eating bread for duck is tasty and makes them feel full, however, it is without nutrition and thus, not good for their health.
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