Leaf it out! Woman accused of littering for sweeping leaves into gutter

For 12 years, Sandra Pote and Malcolm Dodd had dutifully brushed leaves from the council-owned tree outside their home into the kerb for collection.

But this year a roadsweeper who found Mrs Pote sweeping up told her she was breaking the law.

The 61-year-old was given a humiliating dressing-down by a council worker, which reduced her to tears.

The large plane tree outside the couple's home in Windsor Road, Torquay, drops thousands of leaves on their driveway every autumn.

It is the responsibility of Torbay Council which maintains both the road and the trees on it.

But, the couple were told, if the leaves fall on householders' property, it is their responsibility to clean them up.

Mr Dodd, 61, a professional entertainer who performs in a Shadows tribute act, said: 'The tree was pruned five or six years ago and now it's massive. At this time of year our driveway gets covered in its leaves.

'For years we have been brushing them out in the gutter for the council to pick up. This year they haven't been out here much and there was a nice big pile.

'My wife heard the council worker coming down the road in a litter cleaner and so she brushed the leaves in to a pile in the gutter.

'The man told her he could not take them away and that she was littering - she was in tears.

'I heard it going on and went out and he told me we were fly-tipping and he wasn't going to pick up the leaves.

'I told him they weren't our leaves - they came from the council's tree - and I asked him what we were supposed to do with them.

'Then another man came up, a supervisor, and told me that if the leaves fall in my garden it's up to me to pick them up and dispose of them - that I couldn't put them in the gutter.

'Everyone in the road does it that way because it gets so messy. They drove off without cleaning up the leaves.'

When Mr Dodd rang Torbay Council an official confirmed it was residents' responsibility to dispose of the leaves.

Mr Dodd said: 'I asked them what happens if the wind blows the leaves in to the road.

'But I was told I should take the leaves to the tip. There are so many of them I would be there every day if I did that.

'I mean, what are the streetcleaning trucks for if not leaves at this time of year? We pay our council tax for services like this.'

A Torbay Council spokesman said: 'We collect about 600 tons of fallen leaves a year from roads and paths in council ownership. Householders have a responsibility to deal with leaves on their property.'