Taxi driver wins fight with ‘litter police’ over £600 vaping fine
A taxi driver faced a £600 bill after the ‘litter police’ accused him of dropping a cigarette butt when he was vaping. Chris Jones was challenged by a Kingdom Services Group employee when sitting in his cab in Tranmere on October 26 last year.
Kingdom were previously employed as enforcement agency of Wirral Council and fined people littering the streets. With a discarded cigarette that he had just picked up, the Kingdom officer insisted Mr Jones had just chucked it away. But Mr Jones said he had been using an e-cigarette just before he was approached.
He told the Liverpool Echo: ‘He knew it was an e-cigarette I had been smoking – he just wanted to get his bonus.’ The cabbie was fined £300 and ordered to pay £300 costs at Sefton Magistrates’ Court. However determined not to accept the verdict, he hired solicitors and the decision was overturned on appeal at Liverpool Crown Court.
Speaking about why he appealed, Mr Jones said: ‘It was for all the old people that can’t afford to do it, sitting without gas or electricity or going without their food to pay the fines.’ Kingdom’s contract with Wirral Council, which was due to last until 2021, has been terminated by ‘mutual decision’.
The Echo reports there had been a ‘public backlash’ against the company and threats to their staff on social media.
