After a stranger gave him his address, a man claimed that he had been harassed for over a year by council debt collectors about the discarded cigarettes.
Ian Ball said council bosses have spent thousands of pounds chasing him after a litterbug falsely gave his address as their own.
Ian, originally from Codsall (Staffordshire), told Dudley Council West Midlands he wasn’t the woman chasing him – but the letters, threats, and threats continued to come.
Ian Ball stated that after a false address was given by a litterbug, council bosses spent thousands of pounds on him.
“They even can see on the electoral roll that she’s not listed as living at our address, and they replied that it still wasn’t conclusive proof,” he stated.
“We’ve done everything right, including contacting the courts, councils, and debt collectors, but they continue to harass us.”
Ian learned about the littering fee when they were sent a notice in January.
Stacey Ann Lane (the woman’s name) was caught smoking while she was out and about in Dudley on December 20, 2020.
However, the woman was confronted and told officers she had given the wrong address. Ian and his companion have since been harassed and slapped with fines by officials.
Stacey the woman was photographed smoking while she was out shopping in Dudley. (file photo, December 2020).
But she lied to the officers when they confronted her. Ian and his companion have since been harassed and hounded by officials who want the fine.
Ian, an ex-business owner said that when the letters arrived for Stacey, we returned them with the following message: “Not known at this Address” They kept coming, however, so we opened one when we realized they were from the courts.
The legal threats continued, despite the fact that they had proved there wasn’t anyone of this name or description in their house.
Ian continued: “We told Stacey’s council that we had no living person at this address. But they weren’t convinced.”
Ian is outraged at how taxpayers’ money was wasted on just one cigarette and a mistaken identity.
Ian furious that so much taxpayers’ money was wasted on just one cigarette and a mistaken identity
He said, “It has caused much frustration and annoyance in the last year, since we keep getting threats letters – all due to a women that we haven’t met not turning up for her court proceedings.” Although we don’t know the identity of Stacey Ann Lane, we do know that this has been a costly and time-consuming project for the council.
Dudley Council has now been unable to pay thousands due to the fees of debt collectors and Birmingham Magistrates Court solicitors.
“The courts and police could deal with more serious offenses – it’s terrible to see Dudley Council wasting taxpayers’ money.”
Karen Shakespeare (Dudley Council Cabinet Member for Public realm), admitted that the situation was very out of control.
She explained that this was very concerning. We would love to help the couple involved.