Anne Seago, a 97-year-old from Fylde in north-west England, has been threatened with a fine for putting out food for birds in her back garden.

A neighbour of Mrs Seago had initially complained about the bird-feeding to Fylde Council over two years ago. Last month, the council finally ruled that Mrs Seago has been engaging in ‘anti-social behaviour’ and warned her that if she did not stop feeding the birds then it would issue a ‘community protection notice’ (CPN) – an on-the-spot legal notice issued by council or police officers if they decide someone’s behaviour is having a ‘detrimental effect’ on a community’s ‘quality of life’. This means that if Mrs Seago continues to feed the birds in her own back garden, defying the CPN, she could be slapped with an on-the-spot £100 fine or, if prosecuted, a £2,500 fine and a criminal record.

This episode exposes the absurdities and injustices of CPNs and ‘anti-social behaviour’ policy more broadly. Indeed, it shows that what the authorities decide to classify as anti-social behaviour – in this case, a very old lady leaving food out for the local wildlife – bears little relation to popular morality or the opinions or wishes of virtually any community you care to mention. Indeed, many of Mrs Seago’s own neighbours have defended her. No doubt many of them feed the birds in their own back gardens.