A single mum was hit with a £400 fine in the weeks before Christmas for leaving a cardboard box next to her wheelie bin.
Cash-strapped Lizzy Lawton was fined for fly-tipping when she left the box outside on her usual collection day.
Her mum, 43-year-old Samantha Arden, said the council had never given her a recycling box to use, Stoke-on-Trent Live reports.
Lizzy, from Fenton, Staffordshire, was stunned to receive a letter through her door from Stoke-on-Trent City Council informing her that she had been served a penalty notice.
The council has now withdrawn the fine as a 'gesture of goodwill'.
Samantha, who is grandmother to Lizzy's five-year-old son, said: "Lizzy had put out her bin as usual.
"As she has never been issued with a recycling bin she put a box - a single cardboard box next to her bin - it was bin day after all. She just thought the men would take it.
She said Lizzy then took her son to school before returning home to find the £400 fine had been issued.
Speaking to Stoke-On-Trent Live before the fine was cancelled, Samantha said it could not have come at a worse time.
"It's not right, it is so close to Christmas and Lizzy has very little income," she said. "It's also my grandson's fifth birthday and she has got both to think about.
"It's a big chunk of money when she has my grandson's clothes and bills to pay for.
"My grandson has a rare gene issue and he's constantly needing things and new clothes.
"She's on her own with him and his dad and myself contribute as much as we can.
"Things are really tough for her as she's just lost a lot of money through the end of the Universal Credit uplift.
"It's one box, surely they could just take it. It doesn't make any sense, it's ridiculous. The council should be ashamed of themselves.
"If they had provided her with a recycling box in the first place then it wouldn't have been there.
"You’d think that the council could be a little charitable, but no the Scrooge’s expect her to find £400 for a cardboard box."
After being contacted by StokeonTrentLive, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has waived the penalty notice.
A city council spokesman said: "We have reviewed the evidence around this, and as a gesture of goodwill, we will withdraw the penalty notice on this occasion.
"We must stress however that there are dedicated collection points for residents to leave their recycling waste."
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