A man issued with a £150 fine for littering after dropping bags of clothes at a charity bin has hit out at the “predatory” litter wardens.

Builder Russell Cutmore was slapped with the penalty notice by enforcement officers after dropping off his late father’s clothes at the Salvation Army collection point at Morrisons in Wincheap, Canterbury on Monday.

He told KentOnline he was “genuinely stunned” to receive the punishment and lamented the loss of common sense.

“We’ve been clearing out my dad’s belongings since he passed away three weeks ago. So Monday afternoon at around 4pm my family made a trip to Morrisons to donate some of his old clothes,” Mr Cutmore said.

“My car is parked right next to the clothes bank and I was stood for about 10 minutes sorting bags of clothes out because the bank was so full I couldn’t put them in there.

“They waited until I sorted out the bags, tied them up and then got in my car ... then they pounced.

“I’ve given these things in good faith to help people, and this lot decided to fine me for littering.

“They sat there in their car watching me like predators.

“I don’t really believe I’m the sort of person they should be targeting. It just feels like common sense has gone out of the window.”

Mr Cutmore claims the two officers, who work for National Enforcement Services, told him he was lucky not to be fined for fly-tipping - an offence that comes with a minimum fine of £300.

The 58-year-old even said he would take the clothes elsewhere but was told “it was too late”.

He added: “I’m trying to stay as calm as possible and I offered to take the clothes somewhere else but I was told it was too late.

“I asked one of them ‘do you enjoy your job?’ and she just smugly said she did.

“I had multiple people coming over to me and telling me to ignore them.

“Who in their right mind would fly-tip in broad daylight in a public car park surrounded by 500 people all with mobile phones cameras?

“Surely anyone with common sense could see I’m not littering.

“This is the state this country has got into, where you’re being fined for donating to charity.”

National Enforcement Services work on behalf of Canterbury City Council, which has a 12-month contract with the firm that could be set to renew for another year in early May.

However, since the incident, Canterbury City Council has confirmed the fine has been cancelled and apologised to Mr Cutmore: "We are very sorry that Mr Cutmore received a fixed penalty notice for dropping off clothes at the charity collection point. It should not have been issued.

"Our enforcement contractor NES realised an error had been made and swiftly cancelled it of their own accord.

“This happened before an appeal had been received or any media contact, and NES sent a letter to Mr Cutmore first thing on Tuesday (April 25) confirming the cancellation and apologising.

"We are clear that fixed penalty notices should not be issued for incidents like this and have reinforced that point to NES."

However this incident will do little to ease concerns about the presence of NES in the district, with critics accusing the firm of being a “money-making scheme”.

A KentOnline investigation in September last year found litter wardens had dished out fines amounting to almost £250,000 in NES’s first four months working for the council.

One in three of the fixed penalty notices were issued in Northgate, the district’s most deprived ward, and Cllr Alan Baldock said at the time he believes the wardens are preying on “easy targets”.

“It’s disappointing when the wardens go after the easy targets, rather than those piling rubbish in alleyways and behind homes,” the Labour leader said.

“NES has completely missed the point of the whole problem - they’re just there for a deterrent money-making scheme.”

Since NES’s contract began in May 2022, its wardens have been able to dispense £150 fines - which are reduced to £100 if payment is made inside 10 days - for littering and dog fouling.