Walker fined £150 by council for feeding ducks in West London park

A walker from West London was fined £150 by the local council for feeding the ducks.

Asha Asha was out enjoying a stroll in Walpole Park on Wednesday afternoon (November 17) when she saw Ealing Council enforcement officers speaking to two people next to the pond in the centre of the park.

She was shocked to see what happened next, as one of them was dealt a £150 fine for apparently emptying out a bag of bread on the grass to feed the birds.

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Taking to a local Facebook group for Hanwell and Ealing residents, Asha wrote: “Warning. Enforcement officers are fining people for feeding the ducks in Walpole park.”

Local residents were furious with the decision, with one saying that ‘surely Ealing Council have bigger fish to fry’.

Walpole Park, Ealing

One fumed: “How do we register our contempt for this insulting extortion of £150 a time – with Ealing Council.”

A second added: “One minute you can feed the ducks bread and the next you can’t. For an age ducks, swans etc have been fed bread by animal lovers and it doesn’t seem to have done them any harm. Better for people to feed them than go hungry.”

A third chimed in: “If the ducks and wildlife are not fed (and there are other options than bread) they will die. There are three growing ducklings in Walpole. I’m disgusted with this.”

While a fourth joked: “Good to see the council have ample funding to punish the perpetrators of this serious crime. Them duck feeders really bringing down the tone of the area!”

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An Ealing Council spokesperson said: “We have spoken with our contractors and they confirmed a single fixed penalty notice was issued to an individual who tipped a bag of bread onto the grass in Walpole Park and then walked away.

“This type of behaviour attracts vermin, so it is discouraged.

“Although throwing food in the water is also an offence under Section 87 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, we have spoken to our contractor to ensure they don’t fine people for this unless it is clearly littering.

“The Wildfowl Wetlands Trust provides advice on the feeding of water birds, as an over reliance on a ‘bread’ diet can cause physical harm to the wildlife.”

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https://www.mylondon.news/news/west-london-news/walker-fined-150-council-feeding-22217913

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