Grandmother's Six-Month Court Ordeal for Leaving Cardboard Box Next to Recycling Bin

Lynne Doyle has just been through six months of hell.

The 59-year-old grandmother was interrogated in front of customers at the shop she runs, threatened with a heavy fine and dragged to court to answer for her actions.

Her crime? To wedge a cardboard box between two recycling bins because it was too big to fit in the slot.'

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Drivers Face Fine For Leaving Engines Running While Parked... Because it Harms Environment

Leaving your car engine running could land you a fine under a controversial pollution crackdown.

A council has instructed traffic wardens to issue £20 penalty notices to drivers who keep their engines on while parked – and the charge could double to £40 if not paid promptly.

But the attempt to 'improve air quality' by North Lincolnshire Council has been condemned as a 'money-making scam'.

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The 20,000 Snooper Army: Vast Number of Town Hall Bureaucrats Get Power to Enter Your Home Without a Warrant

As many as 20,000 town hall snoopers have assumed powers to enter people's homes without a warrant and search for information, a survey revealed last night.

The research details for the first time how a raft of intrusive laws has allowed council staff to barge into homes and businesses uninvited.

The bureaucrats are benefiting from the 1,043 state powers of entry in primary and secondary legislation – more than 400 of which have been created by Labour.

These include checking for fridges which do not have the correct eco-friendly energy rating, making sure a hedge is not too high and inspecting a property to ensure 'illegal or unregulated hypnotism' is not taking place.

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Indiana: City Threatens $2500 Fines for Challenging Traffic Tickets

Motorists who receive minor parking or traffic tickets in Indianapolis, Indiana are being threatened with fines of up to $2500 if they attempt to take the ticket to court. A local attorney with the firm Roberts and Bishop was so outraged by what he saw in Marion County traffic court that he filed a class action suit yesterday seeking to have the practice banned as unconstitutional.

"The deck is stacked against the motorist," lawyer Paul K. Ogden wrote. "To penalize that person for seeking justice seems wrong. I know it is done for the purpose of discouraging baseless challenges to tickets and clogging the docket, but in the process you are also penalizing people who have a legitimate defense and want a chance to present it to the court."

The city made explicit the threat of additional fines for challenging parking tickets in a November 30 press release announcing a deal between Indianapolis and a private firm, T2 Systems, to hand over operations of a parking ticket court to increase municipal income.'

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