A retired geography teacher was slapped with a £100 penalty notice for discarding a cigarette butt from a vehicle, despite being hundreds of miles away in France when the alleged offence occurred.
Ray Weatherburn, a former British running champion who has never smoked in his life, was accused of littering from a silver Vauxhall Corsa on Farnborough Road in Clifton on August 13.
The 76-year-old was actually enjoying breakfast in Normandy when the offence was alleged to have happened.
Mr Weatherburn, who maintains a primary residence in Berwick-upon-Tweed alongside a second property in Wollaton, Nottingham, received the penalty notice on September 9.
He told Nottinghamshire Live: “I’ve never smoked in my life.
“They issued me with a £100 fixed penalty notice. They had the correct registration number but my car was immobilised up in Northumberland at the time.”
His vehicle had remained stationary at his Northumberland home throughout the period in question – approximately 270 miles from where the alleged littering took place.
When a follow-up letter arrived a fortnight later, threatening court proceedings over the unpaid fine, the former teacher took action to clear his name.
Nottingham City Council said it does not comment on individual cases
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He submitted passport stamps and petrol receipts to the local authority, documentation which conclusively demonstrated he could not have been present in Nottingham on the date specified.
Following this evidence, the council dropped the case against him. However, the ordeal did not end there for Mr Weatherburn.
The second letter had been addressed to a man whose name he did not recognise, prompting serious concerns about potential identity fraud.
“It worried me about ID fraud as there was someone else linked to my address and car,” he said.
The council subsequently apologised for the ‘inconvenience’ caused and attributed the third letter to a technical error
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A week after the case was dismissed, a third piece of correspondence arrived inviting him to participate in the Immediate Justice scheme, a programme offering community work as an alternative to court appearances for offenders.
The council subsequently apologised for the “inconvenience” caused and attributed the third letter to a technical error.
Despite this, the authority has still not provided any explanation for why Mr Weatherburn was originally issued with the fine.
The only explanation Mr Weatherburn has been offered came from police, who suggested his number plates may have been cloned.
He continued: “Nottingham City Council are absolutely appalling.
“If someone said there was a big mistake I would appreciate that but no-one has offered an explanation. It’s very frustrating.”
The uncertainty continues to take its toll on the retired teacher.
He continued: “I still don’t know if someone’s driving around with my number plate cloned. It’s all very, very confusing and I can’t get any explanation out of them. It causes sleepless nights and anxieties.”
Nottingham City Council said it does not comment on individual fixed penalty notice cases.