https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp34xykk653o

A man who was fined for spitting out a leaf after it blew into his mouth has joined calls for "responsible" litter enforcement.

Roy Marsh, 86, was hit with a œ250 fine after an incident in Skegness, Lincolnshire, earlier this year. The story emerged after Adrian Findley, a county councillor, said he had received a number of complaints about similar "heavy handed" incidents in the seaside resort.

East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) said enforcement teams, who work on
behalf of the authority, would "only approach individuals who have been seen committing environmental crime offences".

Mr Marsh claimed he was reprimanded as he stopped for a rest while walking across the South Parade Car Park in February. "As I was sitting there, a gale blew a big reed into my mouth. I spat it out and just as I got up to walk away two guys [enforcement officers] came up to me," he said.

Mr Marsh was told by one of the officers that he had been seen spitting on the ground. He claimed he told the officer he was being a 'silly boy'. "It was all unnecessary and all out of proportion." Mr Marsh added.

A fine of œ250 was issued and it was later reduced on appeal to œ150, which Mr Marsh paid.

Findley, who represents Reform on Lincolnshire County Council, told the BBC he had been approached by other "angry residents" who had recounted similar experiences. He said: "They [enforcement officers] are taking it too far. If I came here on holiday and was given a œ250 fine I wouldn't want to risk coming back. There needs to be discretion about how they [enforcement officers] issue fines. We can't expect elderly people to chase crisp packets down the road if it's windy. If it looks like a genuine accident then give people opportunity
to apologise and pick it up."

ELDC said it closely monitored enforcement actions and patrols were "not targeted at any specific demographic" and are "not discriminatory".



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On Mon, 12 Jan 2026 00:37:30 -0000 (UTC), BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
wrote:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp34xykk653o

Findley, who represents Reform on Lincolnshire County Council, told the BBC he >had been approached by other "angry residents" who had recounted similar >experiences. He said: "They [enforcement officers] are taking it too far. If I >came here on holiday and was given a ?250 fine I wouldn't want to risk coming >back. There needs to be discretion about how they [enforcement officers] issue >fines. We can't expect elderly people to chase crisp packets down the road if >it's windy. If it looks like a genuine accident then give people opportunity >to apologise and pick it up."

Really? I know all sorts of 60s and 70s year olds who regularly do
1-1-1/2 mile dog walks every day. They're not going hard at it (if the
dog wants a break to munch on grass the dog gets their way) but these
folks regularly do 30-45 minute walks with Fido - and none of them
look at all like Schwarteneger.

Admittedly that's Canada not the UK, but my daughter lives in the UK
and has told me all kinds of stories especially about her boyfriend's
father who is now that age - of course he could reasonably be expected
to be in better shape than most given he was a career British army NCO
who served in most of the terrible places Britain has sent troops in
the last 35 years (Belfast, Beruit, Iraq, Afghanistan just for
starters - he knew I knew my history so he once described his service
to me as "think of all the appalling places Britain has sent its army
in the last 40 years - I served in nearly all of them")

ELDC said it closely monitored enforcement actions and patrols were "not >targeted at any specific demographic" and are "not discriminatory".

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