Dwarf fined £100 because she couldn't reach bin to throw rubbish away

A 4ft woman claims she was given a penalty after she left two cardboard boxes beside a communal recycling bin because she was too small to reach it.

Tia Goldsmith, 36, from Devon, was fined £100 and threatened with legal action when Plymouth City Council discovered the rubbish had not been disposed of properly.

The hospital worker said she tried her best to reach up and put the boxes in the bin but couldn’t because of her height.

She then left the packaging out next to the container, hoping council waste workers would understand and take them away.

But the boxes were left behind in the lane – and later spotted by an anti-litter enforcer.

Ms Goldsmith said: ‘I think it’s disgusting. I’m worried about what will happen – I am a law-abiding citizen. I have never even gone to a magistrates court.

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‘The way they are treating me, and the way they have gone about it, is unacceptable.

‘I want to fight it, until the end – even if I end up having to pay the £100, at least I’d have fought it, and all over a couple of cardboard boxes.

‘I don’t understand it – there’s no logic.’

Ms Goldsmith then received a £100 Fixed Penalty Notice in the post from the council for littering in public.

The Derriford Hospital oncology department secretary lodged an unsuccessful appeal because her height prevented her from storing all of her recycled waste.

She suffers from a restrictive growth condition called Achondroplasia.

Ms Goldsmith said she had been told to settle the fine immediately or run the risk of being taken to court.

Plymouth City Council said it couldn’t explain the full circumstances while the case remained ‘ongoing’.

The council added: ‘Litter and fly-tipping in the back lanes of Plymouth is an issue regularly reported to us by residents and, as we have heavily publicised, issuing fixed penalty notices is one of the ways that we are trying to tackle this.’

Ms Goldsmith claimed her circumstances had been discounted by council officials who she claimed ignored her calls and appeal letter.

She believes she’s been made a scapegoat for a recent spike in fly-tipping in her area and warned neighbours expecting large Christmas orders they too could face punishment if they couldn’t fit everything into their bins.

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