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A man who was fined £1,000 for fly-tipping after leaving cardboard next to a recycling bin has vowed to fight on after having the penalty reduced. Lee Reynolds had left the box on the floor as all four bins at Tesco, in New Milton, in Hampshire, were overflowing with rubbish

On June 3 he received a penalty for “illegally depositing waste” from New Forest District Council (NDFC) which left him feeling “physically sick”. The authority claimed the facilities were emptied three times a week, but photographs taken at the time of the alleged offence showed that all the bins were full.

Mr Reynolds appealed the notice, arguing the sign warning against leaving waste was obscured by the huge volume of rubbish. NDFC then downgraded his “offence’ from flytipping to a “failure to control household waste” offence, which carries a £300 fine – reduced to £150 if paid by July 3. Mr Reynolds paid up, but is still not happy.

He said: “I tried several routes of appeal, and basically NFDC did not accept my argument that the signs were obscured. I have tried to meet up with the councillors to discuss it but, again, this didn’t get me anywhere.

“With the deadline looming I felt I had no choice but to pay the £150, so reluctantly that’s what I did. It was really weighing on my mind – as a law-abiding citizen the whole situation was causing me a lot of anguish. I was basically told that the matter was closed and there will be no more discussion. If I didn’t pay the fine, I was facing prosecution.”

Mr Reynolds said he is not backing down and has taken the matter to the district council’s complaints process. If this is unsuccessful, he will lodge a complaint with the the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. He said: “The level of waste piled up is a fire hazard. There is just rubbish everywhere and the whole area is a mess. It seems extremely unfair that the council fails to keep the area tidy and I’m the one that ends up with a fine.

“The bins were full to overflowing and there was no available capacity for additional cardboard. I did not see any instructions or signage warning against leaving recycling adjacent to full containers; if signage exists, it was not visible due to the volume of waste already present.”

A spokesperson for NFDC said the authority would not comment on individual cases, but added: “While we recognise that many residents are keen to recycle and dispose of their waste responsibly, placing waste next to full containers at the community recycling sites is flytipping.

“Flytipping and failure to control household waste is an offence, and not only unsightly but causes environmental hazards. It can also lead to additional costs for the council, for example, where waste becomes contaminated and cannot be recycled.

“We have seen an increase in fly tipping at this location and have been working to address this through education and awareness. The site was remodelled and additional signage was installed on May 20, prior to this incident.”