Samaritan’s fury over £50 fag fine

A Good Samaritan was handed a £50 fine by council wardens after his cigarette blew away while he was trying to help them.

Ramsay Dick was having a smoke on Glasgow’s Argyle Street when he spotted an unattended bag.

He was concerned someone could have lost it, or worse, that it might contain something untoward.

He pointed the bag out to two council officers who found it was empty.

However, before speaking to them he stubbed his cigarette out on the stone bench he’d been sitting on.

Ramsay said he planned to come back and bin the cigarette end after pointing out the bag and didn’t realise it had blown away.

Moments later the same officers he tried to help slapped him with a £50 fixed penalty for dropping his fag end.

Ramsay, who works as a welder, blasted the council officers for showing “no compassion” after he’d tried to help them out.

He said: “I had just finished smoking a cigarette, stubbed it out and rolled it up in my hand. I looked around for a bin and saw one about 10 yards away.

“Sitting next to the bin I noticed an unattended handbag. There could have been anything inside. I spotted two community enforcement officers so I went over to report it to them.

“I put the stub on the concrete block to bin when I got back. I reported the bag to the officers and it turned out to be just an old bag someone had left.

“I had completely forgotten about the ciggy stub and it must have blown off where I left it. The next thing I knew the officers came over and gave me a £50 fixed penalty notice.

“It was a complete accident. I would never intentionally litter. I just got distracted because I was so caught up in reporting the bag.

“I was stunned when they fined me. I was just a bit absent minded while trying to do my civic duty.”

Ramsay sent a letter to the council appealing the June fine but didn’t hear back until last week when he got a response saying he had to stump up.

The letter also said he could refer the incident to the procurator fiscal if he wasn’t satisfied.

And despite the costs involved that’s exactly what he plans to do.

Ramsay, who lives in Newton Stewart, said: “If the council wants to waste its time and money taking it to court then that’s fine by me.”

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “We take littering very seriously in Glasgow, as seen through our zero tolerance response to anyone dropping it.”