You might think you are being kind leaving unwanted items on the street for your neighbours to take.
However, think twice as you could be breaking the law.
A mother-of-two has revealed she was slapped with a £75 fine for fly-tipping after leaving her childrens old scooters out for the scrap man.
Primary school teacher Emma Reckless, 42, left the three toys, along with an unwanted parasol holder, against her fence for collection.
But she was stunned when a council Community Protection Officer knocked on her door on Tuesday and told her she would receive a penalty for fly-tipping.
Mrs Reckless, who has a son, 11, and daughter, seven, says she regularly leaves household items outside her home in Bulwell, Nottingham, for the scrap man.
She has now been given two weeks to pay the fine or risk further legal action.
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She said: It was ridiculous and it really left me upset.
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The scooters werent obstructing the path or anything and its something the scrap man collects on a daily basis.
When the woman came round she was wearing a black uniform, hat and an illuminous jacket and she did not introduce herself.
She just said I had broken the 1990 Environment Act.
The Act governs waste management, including disposing of waste items, fly-tipping and littering.
Mrs Reckless said she understood fly-tipping to be things like dumping mattresses and was just trying to help the scrap man earn a living.
She said she was totally unaware of the Environment Act, adding the donation wasnt obstructing the path and I would have taken it in if he hadnt come.
She continued: I thought she was a police officer so I rang them but they said she belonged to Nottingham City Council.
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I rang the team leader at the council and asked him why they were going round fining people without even warning or educating them.
He told me that notices have been put on Twitter but not everyone goes on Twitter.
Fly-tipping is people dumping things like old mattresses, not this.
I think its really sad that things have got to this, but Id like to warn others about it.
If they are going to fine people then they need to educate them.
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Leaving things out for the scrap man is something that people on the street do all the time.
Mrs Reckless has the support of one her local councillor who said she should have just been given a warning.
City councillor Ginny Klein, who represents the Bulwell ward for the city council, said: We want to deter fly tipping but in this case it is not a fly tipping area.
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If people want to leave things out for the scrap man then so much the better, as it was her first time it would have been better to have just issued a warning.
It is important to stress that city has a free waste collection service so people who are tempted to fly tip should be using this.
Toby Neal, council portfolio holder for community protection, added: Anything left out in the street without prior arrangements for collection or as part of normal bin collections could constitute fly-tipping.
From household waste such as a mattresses left outside a house to a big pile of illegally dumped waste by a business or a builder – this is all fly tipping and its illegal.
Residents in Nottingham City can avoid a fine for fly-tipping by booking a free bulky waste collection via our website.
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