Mother wins support in duck fine battle
A mother fined for feeding the ducks in a Black Country campaign has been backed in her fight – by another wildlife lover who fell victim to the same rules.
Vanessa Kelly, aged 26, has vowed to contest the penalty after she was fined £75 by a council warden for littering by feeding the ducks with her 17-month-old son Harry in Smethwick Hall Park last Tuesday.
Fellow park-goer Ronald Burford today revealed he was also handed a £75 ticket for littering in January after throwing bread to the birds in the same park.
The 57-year-old semi-retired engineer, of Old Chapel Road, Smethwick, reluctantly stumped up the cash but said today he agreed the rules were "outrageous".
He insisted he would be seeking a refund himself if Miss Kelly was successful in her appeal.
"I've taken scraps of food for the birds over the years and the same as her when I saw the warden there I didn't pay any attention," he said.
"He came up and told me not to throw any more bread, I said 'fair enough' and thought that was the end of it, then he stood there and gave me a ticket.
"I can understand there's a rat problem but I feel they are targeting the wrong people.
"Any stuff I have ever taken there was also always eaten immediately by the birds, but some people use the park as a dumping ground," he said.
"The pond is awash with rubbish, it smells terrible, and I think victimising a few people throwing a bit of bread is ridiculous.
"People dumping sacks of food there is a different story, but to be standing there tossing a few bits of bread is a tradition in this country and it gets people interested in wildlife."
Campaign group Big Brother Watch, part of the TaxPayers' Alliance, has also pledged its support to Miss Kelly's appeal.
Campaign director Alex Deane, a barrister and formerly Tory leader David Cameron's chief of staff, said: "I am proud to be helping Miss Kelly in her fight against this ludicrous fine."
