Kind-hearted folk donating to charities are at risk of being hit with £1,000 fines – for fly-tipping.
A council wrongly faced a backlash from angry locals after sparking a hunt for four people caught on CCTV.
They all left bin bags next to charity containers.
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The townsfolk said the drop-off bins just must have been full.
But town hall bigwigs said they were dumping other waste next to the metal containers.
Yet they insisted that even if they were leaving clothes donations next to full charity bins, they could still be at fault.
Fly-tippers can be hit with £1,000 fixed penalty notices.
It happened at Everett’s Corner on the crossroads of Bath Road and Elmshott Lane, in Slough, Berkshire.
A Slough Council spokesperson said: “Tell us who these flytippers are?
“Caught on camera at Everett’s Corner over the last few days and nights.
“These four fly-tippers came on foot, so help us identify them.”
Locals tried to defend them, as reported on Need To Know.
Russ Bourner said: “They’re not simply donating clothes to a bin that’s already full, are they?”
But the council replied: “The bins are not full and the rubbish dumped was not clothes.
“Even if it was clothing, if it isn’t in the bin, it’s flytipping.”
Dickson Pereira fumed: “They are donating clothes.”
But the local authority replied: “No, they aren’t.
“If that is what they were doing, we wouldn’t be posting the photos and asking for help in identifying them.”
Kanwal Baig said: “Erm they are donating to the charity bins which are clearly visible in the photos.
“Shame on you Slough Council.”
But the spokesperson added on social media: “The rubbish was dumped outside the bins and isn’t clothing.
“Even if it was clothing, it is still fly-tipping, which costs taxpayers money to clear up.
“If it were people just using the bin,s we wouldn’t be trying to track them down.”
Slough Council is carrying out a crackdown on fly-tipping.
Councillor Ejaz Ahmed, lead member for public protection, said: “Fly-tipping in Slough has reached an all-time high.
“And it seems the only way to get through to people – a lot of whom are repeat offenders – is to catch them and fine them.”
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