A WORCESTER News article about a pregnant mother fined for putting rubbish bags outside her flat has sparked a huge debate.

Tuesday's story revealed Lisa Buzza was being fined £100 by Worcester City Council for failing to put her bin bags in new wheelie bins outside her second-floor flat in Cranham Drive, Warndon Worcester.

The 22-year-old said she did not realise the bins had been replaced after old ones were destroyed by fire and refuses to pay the fine.

The story attracted a huge response, with about 60 comments posted on the Worcester News website www.WorcesterNews.co.uk Many readers felt the council was right and the mother-of-two should pay up.

With reference to council staff searching the bags to trace the owner, a reader calling themselves Mushy wrote: "The council has every right to find out who leaves rubbish in the wrong place."

The point is... wrote: "Let's face facts here... this woman left rubbish in an unauthorised place. Rightly or wrongly this is known as fly- tipping, or littering. There are penalties against this. End of argument."

Kai, of Worcester, wrote: "The fine for putting rubbish or litter anywhere should be much higher."

An anonymous writer added: "A tough line with these people is the way forward. Rubbish dumped that far in advance is a health hazard to the unborn child, herself and fellow residents. It is also an eyesore."

However, many felt the council was being heavy handed.

Why? wrote: "This is all a bit harsh, I would have given a warning under the circumstances and then a fine."

A resident said: "If she didn't know the bins were there and the operations manager can't say whether letters went out, then she has no case to answer to and no fine."

Michelle wrote: "At the end of the day she's obviously on the breadline and this fine won't help anyone, least of all her children."

John wrote: "This fine is just another way of increasing council revenues, as are traffic tickets. I wonder what the council does with all the money? Two years ago the rubbish was taken every week, now it's taken every two weeks! If council tax is going up and people are being fined, surely the extra revenue should mean rubbish being taken more frequently?"