Cops doled out a £50 fine to a man who dropped a tenner in the street.
Unemployed Stewart Smith, 36, had just bought a £3 T-shirt at a charity shop when he accidentally dropped the £10 note and his receipt.
He walked on a few yards before being collared by two beat cops, who hit him with a £50 fixed penalty fine.
Stewart, of Dalrymple, near Ayr, had borrowed £20 from his mother Sheila on Tuesday, the day before his benefits were due.
He said: "I had come out of the Capability Scotland shop in Ayr with a £3 T-shirt. I had £17 change so I put the seven pound coins in my front pocket and tried to put the receipt and the tenner in my back pocket.
"I must have missed the back pocket and both of them fell to the ground. I walked on four or five yards and I heard a policeman say, 'Hey son, wait a minute.'
"I said thanks and I bent over and picked the tenner up. He said I was littering and that I was getting a spot fine.
"I couldn't believe my ears. The tenner and the label were lying on the ground together.
"There was no mistaking what had happened.
"I'm completely skint and I certainly can't afford to go chucking tenners around.
"The fine's a week's cash for me to feed and clothe myself and pay bills."
The ticket gives him 14 days to pay up to South Ayrshire Council. He has consulted a lawyer to see if he can fight the case.
Stewart, who was collared on Newmarket Street, said: "I made an honest mistake and I will be contesting this."
He admitted to having brushes with the law for minor offences when he was younger.
He said: "I wouldn't say I was collared because of that because I didn't recognise the police officers. They weren't cheeky to me, they just got on with it and said they were giving me the fine."
Stewart worked at the Bed Shed warehouse at Skeldon, before arthritis in his hands forced him to leave at the end of last year.
He said: "I thought the police were trying to be helpful but maybe I have the kind of face they don't like."
He insisted he didn't swear at the police or deliberately litter.
A spokesman for Ayr police said: "A male was issued with a fixed penalty notice for an alleged act of littering.
"As this is part of the ongoing process surrounding fixed penalties, it would be inappropriate to comment further."
Unemployed Stewart Smith, 36, had just bought a £3 T-shirt at a charity shop when he accidentally dropped the £10 note and his receipt.
He walked on a few yards before being collared by two beat cops, who hit him with a £50 fixed penalty fine.
Stewart, of Dalrymple, near Ayr, had borrowed £20 from his mother Sheila on Tuesday, the day before his benefits were due.
He said: "I had come out of the Capability Scotland shop in Ayr with a £3 T-shirt. I had £17 change so I put the seven pound coins in my front pocket and tried to put the receipt and the tenner in my back pocket.
"I must have missed the back pocket and both of them fell to the ground. I walked on four or five yards and I heard a policeman say, 'Hey son, wait a minute.'
"I said thanks and I bent over and picked the tenner up. He said I was littering and that I was getting a spot fine.
"I couldn't believe my ears. The tenner and the label were lying on the ground together.
"There was no mistaking what had happened.
"I'm completely skint and I certainly can't afford to go chucking tenners around.
"The fine's a week's cash for me to feed and clothe myself and pay bills."
The ticket gives him 14 days to pay up to South Ayrshire Council. He has consulted a lawyer to see if he can fight the case.
Stewart, who was collared on Newmarket Street, said: "I made an honest mistake and I will be contesting this."
He admitted to having brushes with the law for minor offences when he was younger.
He said: "I wouldn't say I was collared because of that because I didn't recognise the police officers. They weren't cheeky to me, they just got on with it and said they were giving me the fine."
Stewart worked at the Bed Shed warehouse at Skeldon, before arthritis in his hands forced him to leave at the end of last year.
He said: "I thought the police were trying to be helpful but maybe I have the kind of face they don't like."
He insisted he didn't swear at the police or deliberately litter.
A spokesman for Ayr police said: "A male was issued with a fixed penalty notice for an alleged act of littering.
"As this is part of the ongoing process surrounding fixed penalties, it would be inappropriate to comment further."
