I was reading this morning that councils can now charge you for putting your wheelie bin out on the wrong day. I can understand that in cases where the householders simply don’t bother to take it in on the right day, or who put it out at any time they choose, then it might be a problem worth following up. However, when your bin is only collected once a fortnight, if you are going to be away on the right day for putting it out, you have little option but to put it out early and often take it in late, in order for it to be emptied at all. With my Mistress, there are also those times when you simply get confused about which day of the week it is and put your bin out on the wrong one. This is without the effect of bank holidays. When bank holidays confuse the week the bin men don’t come on the right day anyway and it’s not something you always remember.
Strictly speaking, fines for leaving out your bin are probably like speeding fines, a source of extra revenue. It’s just a good job that speeding fines don’t go to the local authorities, else there would be a speed camera on every street corner. At least with the fact the revenue goes to the government but has to be collected locally, some local authorities are having the good sense to remove the cameras in favour of something that makes the point without being quite so draconian. Although the downside of that little signs that flash up to say you are going to fast is that the children in the car beg you to drive fast enough to make them come on as they like to see them flash!