You’re on your way into the office, casually sipping your coffee as you wait for the bus to arrive. It pulls up, and you take the last sips, pausing to quickly pour the dregs into a drain before you get on board. Pretty innocent, normal behavior right?
In fact, taking the time to pour the dregs into the drain rather than simply emptying it onto the pavement is arguably going out of your way to be considerate. Well, not in Richmond, London. Earlier this month Burcu Yesilyurt did just that, only to be accosted by a gang of “enforcement officers” who slapped her with a $200 (£150) on-the-spot fine.
As she explained:
“I noticed my bus was approaching, so I just poured the leftover bit. It wasn’t much – just a tiny little bit. As soon as I turned around, three men, enforcement officers, were chasing me, and they stopped me immediately. I thought it was about the bus. I had no clue pouring liquid into a drain was illegal. It was quite a shock.”
Yesilyurt was told she had violated Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as she’d disposed of waste “in a way that could pollute land or water.” She was left shaking and intimidated, saying she was left feeling like a common criminal.
Stuff like this kills faith in institutions.
— Greg Jackson (@g__j) October 22, 2025
Whatever the technicalities, fining someone for coffee down a drain is just ridiculous. Drains take all the detritus from roads, rubbish, dog pee etc. The Council should just drop it rather than digging deeper.https://t.co/odZXUz7wTd
This story went viral in the United Kingdom, and the responses were uniform outrage, with many pointing out that describing pouring coffee into an open drain as “pollution” is ridiculous. She went on to appeal to the council for some sanity, only for them to reply that:
“Nobody likes receiving a fine, and we always aim to apply our policies fairly and with understanding. We are committed to protecting Richmond’s waterways and keeping our borough’s streets clean and safe.”
Sanity prevails
Fortunately, after this story made national news, the pressure was turned up on the council and they were forced to back down. Yesterday Yesilyurt was informed in a curt email that, “I can advise that on review the fixed penalty notice has been canceled.” Presumably, someone sane stepped in to yell at the enforcement team.
This is disgraceful. She was advised she should have poured her coffee into a bin, which would have made more of a mess. What is the pollution impact of pouring coffee down a drain? This is the short of annoyance and unfair “computer says no” attitude that makes people so angry… https://t.co/tBLOip2sgK
— Stella Tsantekidou (@Stsantek) October 22, 2025
We can understand the need for plainclothes enforcement officers to issue on-the-spot fines for littering or graffiti, but picking on a woman pouring coffee into a drain and harming nobody is the epitome of pedantic bureaucracy. Here’s hoping the outcry means they think twice before trying this nonsense again.
