Nurse fined $300 for leaving free apples on sidewalk for neighbours

Most of the fruits were placed in a bucket that was labelled "free eating apples". Photos / Facebook

A nurse who was hoping to share the spoils of her apple tree with neighbours has been slapped with a £150 ($300) fine for allegedly illegally dumping the fruit.

Lydia Farrell of Ealing, London, thought she was doing a simple "good deed" when she put fruit that had fallen off her tree, onto the footpath in a box labelled "free eating apples".

She offered the apples to others in hopes they wouldn't go to waste. However, when Farrell got home she was shocked to find Ealing Council didn't like her gesture and had pushed a letter through her door accusing her of littering.

With the letter was the fine for Farrell to pay, or face court action.

After she posted about it on Facebook, the west London council faced an online backlash and said it will withdraw the fine.

Some were also positioned inside cardboard boxes. Photo / Facebook

Farrell said she felt "very disheartened" when she got the letter, as she walks past "real fly-tipping at the end of my road every day".

"We'd been away for a few days and not only did we come home to that fine but also someone had forced entry into our back garden and broken our fence," she told Metro.co.uk.

"So two real crimes were committed by other people and I'm the only one who gets fined.

"I just feel it was quite sad that the council would fine me for doing a good deed."

Ealing councillor Julian Bell, apparently contacted Farrell as soon as he heard what had happened.

A spokesman said: "The council recognises the spirit of the residents' actions was with good intentions. We will be in touch with Ms Farrell to rescind the fine.

"Our priority is to make sure the borough is clean and litter free and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused."

The 33-year-old nurse said she would continue to share her apples, and would "fix them to my wall somehow". She also has some passionfruit that lucky passers-by might be offered soon too.