Councils fine locals for picking up stones

And other stories from the stranger side of life

A woodland scene
(Image credit: Tim Graham/Getty Images)

A record number of on-the-spot fines were issued by councils for “seemingly bizarre” offences including feeding birds, picking up stones and napping in public, said The Guardian. The fines for what have been dubbed as “busybody offences”, has seen the total numbers of fines increase to 13,433 in 2022, up from 10,412 in 2019. Shouting in public has been banned by four councils, as well as making noise, which has been banned by four councils.

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  Chas Newkey-Burden has been part of The Week Digital team for more than a decade and a journalist for 25 years, starting out on the irreverent football weekly 90 Minutes, before moving to lifestyle magazines Loaded and Attitude. He was a columnist for The Big Issue and landed a world exclusive with David Beckham that became the weekly magazine’s bestselling issue. He now writes regularly for The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Metro, FourFourTwo and the i new site. He is also the author of a number of non-fiction books.