A well-meaning mother who left her daughter's toy kitchen on the pavement outside her home for another family to collect has been fined £500 for fly-tipping.
Anna Karamiseva was left shocked after council workers knocked on her door in Windsor, Berkshire, and handed her a fixed penalty notice.
The mother had left the small toy tucked beside her front gate with a sign reading: 'Free to collect'.
She said: 'To my surprise, this is considered a criminal offence'.
The mother wrote a letter to the council apologising and stating that it was not litter, and now hopes the fine, which falls to £150 if paid within two weeks, will be scrapped altogether.
This latest council crackdown follows dozens of other locals reporting fines from enforcers at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead council.
Ms Karamiseva's neighbour, Jo, said: 'This makes my blood boil. A warm-hearted resident's daughter has outgrown her toy kitchen, so it's left outside the property for another family to pick up and give hours of fun to a younger child.
'But the council jumps at the chance to make money and criminalise the thoughtful mum who was just trying to recycle the toy and think of others.
Pictured: the kitchen toy left neatly outside a mother's house, which resulted in her being slapped with a £500 fine for 'fly-tipping'
Anna Karamiseva (pictured) said she did not know that it was considered a 'criminal offence'
'It just highlights the madness of red-tape loving zealots poisoning this country by targeting hard-working middle-class families.'
Councillor Alison Carpenter told the Sun: 'I understand many people are trying to dispose of items responsibly.
'However, residents should be aware that leaving items on the pavement, even temporarily for collection, can be treated as an obstruction and may result in enforcement action.'
The council added: 'Enforcement officers acted after an item was left on a public footpath for several days.'
The fining frenzy in Berkshire follows a woman being slapped with a £150 fine last October for pouring the remnants of her coffee down a drain after she was 'chased' by three council officers.
Burcu Yesilyurt, from Kew, west London, said she tipped a small amount of the drink from her reusable cup down the road gully because she didn't want to spill it on the bus.
But moments later, she was 'shocked' to see three male enforcement officers 'chasing' her down the street as she stood at the bus stop near Richmond station.
The officers fined her £150 under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, reduced to £100 if she paid within 14 days.
It follows the case of single mother Loretta Alvarez (pictured) who was fined £1,000 for leaving a single envelope next to overflowing bins
Meanwhile, in Richmond last November, a woman was chased down the road by three enforcement officers after pouring some of her coffee down a drain
Ms Yesilyurt said she found the encounter 'quite intimidating' and was left feeling 'shaky' on her way to work.
But Richmond-upon-Thames Council insisted its officers 'acted professionally and objectively' and were 'justified' in issuing the fine.
The council later said it had cancelled the fine and is 'reviewing our advice on the disposal of liquids in a public place'.
Meanwhile, a single mother was fined £1,000 last November for fly-tipping after she put a single envelope next to overflowing bins.
Mental health nurse Loretta Alvarez placed the cardboard envelope on top of some boxes by the communal bins outside her flat in Feltham, west London, which were shared by 25 other households.
She assumed council workers would take the rubbish when they came to collect the waste.
But the 26-year-old was shocked to receive a penalty notice from Hounslow Council, which said that fly-tipping includes leaving waste anywhere in public other than inside a bin, even if the bins are already full.
The mother-of-two said she could not afford to pay and was subsequently threatened with legal action.