A council has slapped a woman with a £600 fine after a "piece of cardboard blew out of the bin" and caused her to litter.

Francesca Poncetta said she was sent a letter regarding a small piece of rubbish found on the street near her home in Wood Green, north London.

The scrap had her name and address printed on it.

The 32-year-old insisted she always took her cardboard boxes apart before placing them in her recycling - and she believed the wind had caught this particular scrap and blown it away during collection.

She said: "I got a letter saying that they had found a piece of cardboard with my name and address on it and they wanted to confirm that it came from my building.

"It was a very windy day so what I believe happened is they opened a very full bin and it just flew out."

The freelance photographer confirmed to Haringey Council that the rubbish did come from her flat.

She was then sent a £600 fine in the post.

The small scrap of cardboard blew out of the bin during collection (file photo)

She added that when she first received the letter, she thought it was a "joke" and assumed the council would cancel it, believing it to be an error.

The letter arrived on August 12 and dated the cardboard scrap of rubbish as having been found on August 6.

It told Ms Poncetta that if she did not pay the £300 amount within the first 14 days, it would increase to £600.

However, she said she was unable to pay - and felt it was out of proportion for the offence.

Francesca Poncetta complained that she sees beds and sofas regularly dumped on her street (file photo)

Ms Poncetta continued: "The letter mentioned that I should seek legal advice, which felt very threatening.

"The first thing that I did was contact the council, because I thought it might be a scam.

"I see sofas and beds being dumped on the street all the time, and if the fine was for that then I would understand, bit this was just an accident."

A month after it had been received, the fine was cancelled on September 15.

A spokesman for Haringey council said: "Residents have a duty of care to dispose of their household waste responsibly and this fixed penalty notice was issued after the cardboard was found in the street.

"Residents can challenge the decision as was the case here.

"After considering the information provided, on this occasion we cancelled the fixed penalty notice.

"Our residents and businesses have demanded stronger measures to deal with littering and waste dumping so that our streets and open spaces are attractive places that can be enjoyed by all."