THE council has apologised to a woman after she was fined £80 for walking her dog.
Norfolk Square in Brighton is a designated "no dogs" zone and people are not allowed to walk their pets in the area.
However, signs advertising the ban were recently vandalised and had to be removed - leaving just one stencil spray-painted on the floor.
Carol Homewood, who is dedicated tidy-up champion, did not see this sign and was stunned to receive the £80 fine yesterday morning on the steps leading to the green.
She said: "I was stopped by an enforcement officer. What on earth had I done wrong? Had Ralph had a secret poo that I didn’t notice?
"I always clean up after my dogs so I knew it wasn’t that. Apparently, I was taking my dog into a ‘dog free’ park.
"I had no idea, I saw no signs to say he couldn’t go in, and to be honest it’s an open park at the top so it didn’t even cross my mind that he couldn’t.
"So I asked where the signs were? Oh a sprayed yellow sign on the floor, behind the fencing ready for the fountain. How was I supposed to see that?"
The council said new signs are being put up to make the rule clear.
Ms Homewood, who lives in the Elm Grove area of the city, said she no longer felt inclined to help keep Brighton clean.
The tidy-up champion has taken part in various litter and graffiti cleans. She was also part of a volunteer clean-up team given a key to the Madeira Terrace to clean detritus at the listed seafront structure.
Talking about her conversation with the enforcement officer, she said: "I asked him why he didn’t tackle the real crime in the streets of Brighton, the rubbish all over our streets, and beaches etc. But no, this makes the council easy money.
"It’s always been a bugbear of mine, the way the council fine people for dropping cigarette butts etc and not tackling the real issues.
"Ok, it’s wrong to drop cigarette butts, take dogs into a dog-free park, I’m not saying it’s right, but let’s put things into perspective here and tackle the real issues.
"This will be the last time I ever bother to help on a tidy-up day or spend my time painting out graffiti on our walls in an attempt to try to make Brighton look a better place for us, and for our visitors."
A city council spokesman said: “We have reviewed this matter and can confirm we will be cancelling the fixed penalty notice we gave Ms Homewood.
“We would like to apologise to her for the stress this issue has caused.
“A public space protection order for dog exclusion is in place within some of our open spaces across the city, including Norfolk Square Gardens.
“Signage about this had been in place, but this was recently vandalised and had to be removed.
“Without the signage the dog exclusion may not have been clear to people coming from Western Road, despite our floor stencil.
“We will be putting new signs up to make this clear.
“We would like to invite Ms Homewood to contact us direct on 01273 295 063 or EnvironmentalEnforcement@brighton-hove.gov.uk if she wishes to discuss this further with us.”
A Dogs Exclusion Order in 2011 states people must not walk their dogs in the following parks:
- Brunswick Square
- Norfolk Square
- Russell Square
- Bedford Square
- Clarence Square
- Powis Square
- Pelham Square
- Regency Square (North End)
- New Steine Square
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