More jobsworths

[Gob]

A young couple were left stunned after council workers seized their doormat claiming it was a health and safety risk and then demanded £40 for its return.



Ashley Tofte and his fiancée Jade Bunce, both 24, returned to their council-owned two-bedroom home in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, to find a note from Dacorum Borough Council.

They thought a neighbour was playing a joke when they read the letter, stating they would be charged for the removal of the mat - which had been outside their door for months after being left by previous tenants.

At first Mr Tofte and Ms Bunce, who have lived at the flat for four months, said they had no idea they were not allowed a doormat outside their property and claim it was left there by the previous tenants.

LETTER FROM THE COUNCIL

The letter from Dacorum Borough Council read:

'We have removed: doormat. This item has been identified as yours and you have until 21.12.16 to collect your items and pay the £40 charge that covers removal services and storage costs.
'To arrange collection you need to contact the resident services team. If the item is not collected we still charge for removal and the cost of disposing of the item(s).
'It is our legal duty to keep these areas clear of hazards and combustible materials.
'This is so that you and your neighbours can leave the building safely in an emergency. Please help us to keep these areas clear.'

Mr Tofte, who works as a school caretaker, said: 'I couldn't believe it.

'I thought one of the neighbours was playing a prank.

'The council said if someone was in at the time, they would have given us the chance to remove it ourselves.

'That quite upset me, because it was as if we were being punished for being at work.

'I don't mind following the rules but the main issue is that we don't even own it so I don't want to pay the fine, they can keep it.'

Mr Tofte said council workers visit the block of flats on a weekly basis to carry out an inspection.

He claims the doormat has never been an issue before - nor have other items which have been left in communal areas by other residents.

[Scooter]

Once again, an item left in a common area that could serve as additional fuel to a fire and/or pose a trip hazard during an evacuation.

I OWN a fucking piece of the corridor outside my apartment (along with all of the other condo residents) and I am not allowed to attach so much as a piece of holly to the outside of my door during Christmas season, because municipal fire code does not permit it. That's just the way it is. Anyone who doesn't like having to abide by the rules applicable to the common areas is free to purchase a freehold dwelling and decorate the areas outside it however they choose, or leave whatever junk on their doorstep that local ordinances allow.

I keep a doormat lying on the inside of my door, where I wipe my feet or take off my shoes as I enter my home. I don't suppose it would have ever occurred to these entitled clods to do the same.

[Gob]

Nope doormats are for outside the house, we have one here, so do most people.

[Scooter]

Doormats are for outside the home if you are not sharing your "stoop" with 15 or 20 other residences.

Why stop at doormats? Why not allow every apartment dweller to sit a porch swing outside their door, because those are also intended to be placed "outside the house".

[Econoline]

The rude and stupid part is not the ban on doormats; it's the removal and fine for something (a) that predated the current occupants' residency by at least four months, and (b) that they would have been perfectly willing to do without the fine, if they'd only been asked.

[Gob]

Doormats are for outside the home if you are not sharing your "stoop" with 15 or 20 other residences.

Why stop at doormats? Why not allow every apartment dweller to sit a porch swing outside their door, because those are also intended to be placed "outside the house".

Now that is just being silly.

We know we're not going to agree on this one Scoot, so I'll not respond further.

[BoSoxGal]

I've always had doormats both inside and outside the door, perhaps comes of living in northern climates with lots of wet weather, or having parents with OCD.

They shouldn't have been fined without a warning.

[Scooter]

I suspect the warning came in the form of a list of rules of occupancy (whether as part of their lease or in addition to it) which they received when they moved in, and never bothered to read.

Nor do I necessarily take them at their word that they received no other warning of any kind. Building management here are continually sending around reminders of what is and is not allowed in which common areas. Just because nothing is specifically addressed to me in an engraved invitation and/or explicitly says "no doormats in the halls" doesn't mean that I shouldn't understand they are prohibited.

Building staff did not immediately jump to a policy of charging tenants for removal and storage of items found in common areas without exploring other ways of dealing with a problem that was clearly pervasive enough to push them to institute such a policy.

[dales]

My hometown (Belmont, CA) has some of the strictest anti-smoking regs in CA. One cannot smoke in their apt or condo (even if you are the owner)!

Glad I live in Pleasant Hill.

Every time I visit the old hometown, I make it a point to light up at the local shopping center.

[Jarlaxle]

So...twenty doormats, some epoxy, a few brushes...anyone see some comedy potential with this?

[Bicycle Bill]

So...twenty doormats, some epoxy, a few brushes...anyone see some comedy potential with this?

Yes, and I also see twenty innocent people getting hit with fines for gluing their doormats to the floor because *YOU* thought it would be funny.
Unless you were going to glue all twenty around the door of the councilperson in charge of enforcing this regulation.

-"BB"-

[Joe Guy]

I see a lawsuit against the doormat manufacturer for fabricating and selling a product while encouraging its placement in an area that conspicuously promotes hazardous circumstance.

[RayThom]

Maybe a warning label: "This product must be stepped over. Not for use of feet or or any activity involving appendages below the ankles."

[Lord Jim]

Just paint them all a bright safety yellow...

[Jarlaxle]

So...twenty doormats, some epoxy, a few brushes...anyone see some comedy potential with this?

Yes, and I also see twenty innocent people getting hit with fines for gluing their doormats to the floor because *YOU* thought it would be funny.
Unless you were going to glue all twenty around the door of the councilperson in charge of enforcing this regulation.

-"BB"-

Got it on the first try.

[BoSoxGal]

It's funny, they couldn't be fined because they aren't responsible for a criminal act, the asshole landlord/council would bear the cost of removal - unless they got wise and realized, WGAF?

IMHO, anyway.

[oldr_n_wsr]

Mr Tofte said council workers visit the block of flats on a weekly basis to carry out an inspection.

If so, then how come it took four months before the mat was observed breaking the rules?
I think he should check and see what the council workers are really doing when they are supposed to be inspecing for villainous mats and other common area undesireables.