Coffee hut is hit with ‘petty’ £1,000 waste fine
'It seems very odd that someone would be awake at 7 o’clock in the morning handing out fines'
Dawn Doran and Monique O’Sullivan
BY MAISY GLEDHILL
A COFFEE shop owner has been hit with a £1,000 fine after recycling was found outside her business without the correct waste labels.
Dawn Doran, owner of The Hut by The Heath, was issued with a fixed penalty notice by Camden Council after an enforcement officer spotted the unlabelled recycling outside her shop.
Ms Doran’s colleague, Monique O’Sullivan, witnessed the moment that the fine was given. She said she had briefly stepped inside to collect the correct labels when she noticed the officer photographing the recycling and attaching a notice sticker.
She went back outside to challenge the officer, who replied that the café had committed an “envirocrime” for not correctly labelling the waste, which consisted of two cardboard boxes stacked inside one another.
“It’s very petty,” Ms Doran said. “It seems very odd that someone would be awake at 7 o’clock in the morning handing out fines – it felt as though he was waiting for us to leave so he could quickly take a photo.”
The council has since sent her, weeks after the incident, two letters accusing her of fly-tipping on the same day – one informing her of the £1,000 charge. The other letter warned her that a failure to pay could lead to court proceedings, where she could face a fine of up to £50,000.
The letter stated the fine could be reduced to £500 if paid within 10 days. However the notice did not arrive until two weeks after the incident, by which point the reduced payment offer deadline had passed.
The Hut by The Heath is an independent, family-run business which has sat at the entrance of Parliament Hill Lido for over four years.
Ms Doran explained how she felt betrayed by the council, accusing it of harming small businesses. “Can you imagine the anxiety they must put on people? We’re such a small business – it shoots up your stress levels,” she added. She has since appealed the fine but is still waiting for a response.
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “Enforcement plays a vital role in tackling litter and fly-tipping. However, we work to ensure that our approach to fines is fair and proportionate. In this case, our teams identified cardboard boxes containing waste that had been disposed of incorrectly and a fine was issued.
“We recently received an appeal from the business, which we are currently reviewing in line with our usual processes.”
