MP Jessica Toale calls woman’s £500 fine for leaving Ikea cabinet on pavement for passers-by ‘disappointing’

A woman’s £500 fine for leaving an Ikea cabinet on a pavement for passers-by to take has been called “disappointing” by her MP.

Isabelle Pepin left the storage unit in front of her house in Southbourne, Bournemouth, in the hope someone else could use it.

But the graphic designer and artist was issued a £500 fine by a contractor working for Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council.

They said the furniture was left on a public highway rather than Ms Pepin’s own property so was deemed to be fly-tipping.

A fly-tipping fixed penalty notice from the council is £500 if paid within 14 days but will rise to £1,000 if paid after that and within 28 days.

Jessica Toale, the MP for Bournemouth West, said the fine was “disappointing”.

The Labour MP told the BBC: “This, in some ways, is a distraction from the real fly-tipping you see, which blights local neighbourhoods.

“I think that’s where the focus should be, not on people trying to recycle a piece of furniture which could be useful to somebody else.”

She said she is considering asking the relevant authorities about these types of fines.

The council had previously said the cabinet had been left on the road for four days with no sign saying it was free to take.

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It also said the cabinet’s “condition” meant it would not have had any further use, although Ms Pepin said there was “still life left in it”.

Ms Pepin said a council officer knocked on her door to tell her there was a problem with it being there so she moved it back onto her property and then disposed of it.

She said she was considering taking legal action after an appeal was rejected.

“I do feel this is an excessive fine. There was no intention of fly-tipping. It was outside my own house,” she added.