A grandmother has hit out at council chiefs who dished out an £80 fine for littering - after a toddler dropped two crisps.

Barbara Jubb was standing by a bus stop with her daughter Selena and 20-month old granddaughter Emily when she was pounced on by eagle-eyed council wardens.

They issued the astonished gran with an £80-on-the-spot fine - for not picking up two Quavers little Emily had dropped on the floor.

Cheesed-off Barbara, from York Road, Crawley, said the fine was going to cost her a packet and refused to pay.

She said: "I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Emily had a packet of Quavers in her hands and dropped it by mistake, two of the crisps fell out, so I picked up the bag and kicked the crisps into the gutter.

"It was raining so they were already wet and starting to disintegrate, I didn't think anything of it. Then two people with clipboards came up to me, I thought they were canvassers at first. But they said they were going to fine me for littering.

"They wrote down 'kicking two crisps' as the offence. People were standing around laughing nearby - it is just unbelievable."

After the incident, which happened in Broadwalk in Crawley town centre last Wednesday, Barbara wrote to the council to appeal the fine.

She said: "There is absolutely no way I'm paying this fine, so I called up the council. After I appealed they said they would have to look at CCTV footage - have they really got nothing better to do?

"In the letter they said I should have been warned, not fined, but I think it's still ridiculous. I've had no apology or anything."

The situation was made more stressful as it came just hours after the family had discovered Selena had been diagnosed with a heart murmur.

The 29-year-old said: "We had been to the hospital that morning and my mum was quite upset anyway. Then these people came up and fined her. Emily had dropped the crisps, and my mum picked the bag up.

"It's not like she's some yob throwing stuff around. I don't agree with littering but there needs to be some common sense when it comes to issuing fines like this."

A spokesman for Crawley Borough Council said: "People leaving their rubbish behind, or dropping litter anywhere other than a bin, is totally unacceptable.

"It annoys responsible residents who help us to keep the town clean and tidy, and the council will not tolerate this unsociable behaviour.

"We hope the recent campaign in the town centre will act as a deterrent to anyone thinking of dropping litter on the floor."

Have you been issued with a fine for a similar 'offence'? Leave your comments below.