A MAN has been hit with a £400 fine for flytipping after leaving a duvet on the floor next to a clothes bank.

The city council fined Stephen Bird saying he was caught on CCTV leaving a duvet next to a clothes recycling bank. They said the bins are for clothes and shoes only.

But the 57-year-old told The Argus he was trying to donate his old belongings to the homeless and had been “penalised for giving to charity”.

He claimed he left the duvet on the floor after realising the recycling bank in The Avenue in Moulsecoomb was full.

The Argus: Stephen Bird claims the signs were not clear.Stephen Bird claims the signs were not clear.

Mr Bird said he was left “full of fear” when he received the fine for flytipping in the post.

He said: “I have never experienced the feeling of it. It was that powerful that I wasn’t even angry at first, I was shocked that they could do that.

“We don’t earn a lot of money around here.”

Mr Bird said he was caught on the second of two trips to the recycling bank on Wednesday last week.

He added: “The CCTV sign is hidden. There was no lighting around there either. At 7:30pm it is dark - no one would see the sign.You just think automatically you are doing a good thing.”

The fine is part of a city-wide crackdown on flytipping launched by the council last week.

In 24 hours, the cameras installed by Brighton and Hove City Council caught six people red-handed, with fines totalling more than £2,000 issued.

The Argus:

Since lockdown, enforcement officers have issued 116 fines for flytipping, totalling more than £46,000. Each fine is £400.

Having reviewed CCTV, a council spokesman said: “The video shows he got out of his car and simply threw the duvet on the floor and walked away without attempting to put it inside the large clothes and shoe bin, which wasn’t full.

“These bins are for clothes and shoes only, and are not to be used for duvets or any other items. The signage on fly-tipping and the use of CCTV cameras is also very clear and not ‘hidden’ as he claims.”

The spokesman said it was currently not possible to release the video to the public as it is part of an ongoing investigation.

He said that Mr Bird was welcome to contact the council in order to view the evidence against him.

The spokesman added: “Our new CCTV and number plate recognition cameras are mobile so can and will be moved around the city as a deterrent to people who wilfully break the law by dumping their unwanted items on the street, at recycling points or on public and private land.”