Two sisters were each fined £150 after feeding a McDonald’s hash brown to some pigeons.

Jacqueline Falconer, 53, and her sister Nicola, 48, went Christmas shopping in Manchester city centre on Wednesday morning.

They said they left Primark to get breakfast from McDonald’s, and got sausage and egg McMuffin meals to take away, due to coronavirus restrictions.

The sisters sat on a step in Piccadilly Gardens, but say as soon as they unwrapped the food they were swarmed by birds.

The pair, both from Salford, said they gave the pigeons a piece of their hash brown in an attempt to get rid of them.

They claim just seconds later they were stopped by two enforcement officers, who gave them both a fine.

‘We are both scared of birds and they were flying at us so we threw the
food to get them to go away,’ Jacqueline told the Manchester Evening News.

‘Straight away, these two officers came over and said we were not allowed to throw food to the birds and there was a sign stating so.

‘It was just horrible. Everyone was looking over at us.’

She claimed there were no signs were they were sitting and the officers pointed to a sign that was on the other side of the gardens.

The sisters were issued a fines of £150 on behalf of Manchester City Council, but they say they won’t be paying.

‘Both my sister and I suffer from anxiety and we just needed to get these birds off our back,’ Jacqueline added.

‘I have a heart condition and I’ve recently overcome breast cancer, so it’s just quite a stressful time for me at the moment.

‘We are going to appeal the fine – £150 is a lot of money that neither of us have to spare, especially as I’m currently on furlough and only receiving 80% pay.

‘If the appeal isn’t accepted, then we will have to fight it in court. It’s so ridiculous.

‘I’ve never heard anything like it.’

Jacqueline and Nicola aren’t the first people to receive a hefty fine for feeding birds in the city centre.

One woman had to pay £120 for feeding Greggs vegan sausage roll crumbs to pigeons in the same area, and another was fined after after a pigeon ate her dropped tuna baguette end in ‘one peck’.

Source: Read Full Article