A pensioner has been slapped with a £75 fine after dropping a piece of tissue on the pavement.
Margaret Newton, 82, was shopping with her grandson Mark when she was stopped by two environmental protection officers in Windsor.
Mark said his grandma accidentally dropped the tissue as she tried to get her keys from her handbag.
The woman said it was an accident, but according to council officials it was "dropped deliberately", Manchester Evening News reports.
After receiving the £75 fine, Margaret was told it would increase to £100 if she did not pay it within two weeks.
The fine's amount is the same as her weekly state pension which the pensioner uses to buy food, her grandson said.
Mark told the M.E.N: "We were just walking to the shop on Monday at about 12pm, it was a residential road, not a very busy main road.
"I was going to the bus stop and when I looked across the road I could see these two men coming up to speak to her.
"At first I thought she might have lost something, so I gave it a couple of seconds, but they were still talking to her so I went over.
"As I got there, she said they were giving her a fine."
Margaret was handed a fixed penalty notice by council officers under Section 87 and 88 of the Environmental Protection Act.
"You couldn't even see the supposed litter because it was that small," Mark said.
"I said to them 'she is 82 and even if she had seen it, she probably wouldn't be able to bend down to pick it up'.
"I offered to pick up the rubbish for them and they just replied saying 'rules are rules'."
Mark told his grandma not to pay the fine and sent an appeal, but was told he could not do it on her behalf because of data protection laws.
He added: "She is 82-years-old and doesn't have a computer or an email address, how is she going to appeal that herself?
"It's five weeks before Christmas and all she gets is state pension. She lives on her own."
A Windsor and Maidenhead council spokesperson said: “We have reviewed the details of this case and we are satisfied that the tissue was dropped deliberately, and that there was no attempt to place the tissue in a pocket, bag or to pick it up following it being used.
“A representation to appeal the Fixed Penalty Notice has been received, which is under review."
