Readers have shared their reaction to a woman receiving a fine for throwing sandwich crust to pigeons in Piccadilly Gardens, with some not offering an entirely sympathetic view.
Hazel Kirby, 61, was fined £150 - three times the amount paid by Boris Johnson over the Downing Street lockdown parties, and more than the £100 maximum speeding fine.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Hazel said: "The fine is extortionate and I believe it is disproportionate when you compare it to a speeding fine - which is a potentially a life-threatening offence."
READ MORE:Woman's fury over 'extortionate' £150 fine for throwing sandwich crust to pigeons in Piccadilly Gardens
But despite the hefty fine, some readers weren't feeling particularly sorry for Hazel, with one person saying: " Don't feed pigeons. Don't throw litter around. Pay your fines on time."
Another commented: "A fine is a fine, she shouldn't be feeding pigeons in Pic Gardens, our flying rat friends are fed well enough as it is!"
There was some sympathy, though, with one person calling the situation "easy pickings", with another saying: " I think a warning would have sufficed."
One person vented their frustrations at the officer who handed out the fine, saying: " If a man had dropped a cigarette but on the floor you wouldn't of seen, the jobsworth!"
Another reader commented on the fact that the pigeon was eating the litter, saying: "Out of order. If the pigeon ate it like she said then there was no litter left on the floor so she shouldn’t have been fined."
However, some responded strongly to this point, with one person saying: "If the pigeon ate it then that is instilling behaviours that would result in more pigeons, 'vermin', in and around the city."
Another reader commented: "No thought about the damage that pigeon droppings does to buildings."
One person also unsympathetically added: "Serves her right. Pigeons are vermin and throwing food on the floor is littering."
Do you think the fine was fair? Or was the punishment extortionate? Let us know in the comments section.
