Mum accused of fly tipping by council – for parking her PRAM outside her flat

A mum has been threatened with a fine for fly-tipping – after leaving a PRAM outside her home.

Stephanie Dickenson, 26, came out of her property to find a council notice slapped on the buggy ordering her to move it within five days.

If she fails to do so officials will remove it themselves – and charge her £40 for doing so.

The mum-of-three has now received three such notices from Cheltenham Borough Council – but is refusing to pay up or move the pushchair.

She parks it under a stairwell in the communal entrance area so she doesn’t have to haul it up two flights of stairs to her top floor flat.

Stephanie, who is a mum to 13-week-old Taiya, Laila, one, and Keira, three, said: “I’ve had the sticker put on it about three times but I’ve just ripped it off.

“I do need to leave the pram out there. If I had ground floor access I would not have to leave it downstairs.

“It’s a pram at the end of the day. I’ve got nowhere I can store it. The only place is downstairs.

“My husband can’t even lift it, it’s that heavy.”

She said the issue has added to her stress at her landlord not being able to find her, her children and her husband Ben a house.

“I pay full rent, it’s not like I’m scrounging. I just want somewhere safe for my children to live,” she said.

Cheltenham Borough Homes said it was using the stickers to warn about the removal of items in all communal areas of its properties.

Housing services manager Sara Bennett said: “In the interests of the safety of our tenants, all communal areas must be keep clean and free of hazards that may obstruct escape routes and prevent people from leaving a property safely in the event of a fire or emergency.

“We will place a sticker on all items left in communal areas asking tenants to please remove their belongings and to contact us.

“If tenants ignore this request, as a last resort we will remove the item to our nearest area office where they will be able to reclaim them.”