The hairdresser is fined £80 by bin officers after the receipt fell out of his pocket

A hairdresser says he was “treated like a criminal” after being fined £80 when a receipt fell out of his pocket.

Stewart Bernie, 60, says he never had any trouble with the law until he was challenged by two uniformed environmental officers after exiting a newsagent in Camden, north London.

The duo told him that at 10am that morning he threw a receipt for the payment out of his pocket on his way to the store, reports The Times.

Explaining that it was cold medicine he had bought earlier in the morning, the father-of-two apologized for the mishap, but was surprised to find that officers were reluctant to let the matter go.

He described one of the officers as “collusive to what I had to say” and “really intimidating, zero tolerance.”

Stewart Bernie, 60, says he never had any trouble with the law until he was challenged by two uniformed environmental officers after he dropped a receipt in Camden, north London (Image: archive image)

Eventually Mr Bernie asked to speak to a police officer on the phone but was told that if a police officer came by he would be arrested.

“All of a sudden I’m in this world of madness, absolute madness,” he said.

After a while, Mr Bernie gave his dates and accepted £80’s notice to be ‘out of the situation’.

He is now awaiting the outcome of his appeal against the March 21 sentence.

Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said the guidelines drawn up by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) said sanctions had to be fair.

She said: “Accidental dumping, something dropped out of someone’s pocket, is specifically stated as a scenario where a fine should not be issued.”

The Times reports that among local authorities in England and Wales, Camden was the fourth highest for handing out waste-waste fines in 2018-19 – issuing 5,774 fines.

A Camden Council spokesman said: “Fly-kipping and littering are issues of close concern to our residents and we invest £6million every year to keep our streets clean and lively. In this case a fixed penalty was issued which has not been paid and has been appealed – this is pending and awaiting a result.’