Draconian new town hall tactics mean every adult in a household is hit with a £110 fine, rather than just one.
A family including an adult couple, two children over 18 and a grandparent could, in theory, be hit with five fines totalling £550.
The penalties are imposed for 'offences' such as putting a bin out too early or taking it in too late, leaving out extra sacks of rubbish and over-filling the bin.
Prime targets for mass fines are multi-occupancy properties, particularly student homes, where there is no clear head of the household.
In one house, four adults had to pay £440 for failing to take their bin off the pavement on time.
That is more than five times the £80 spot fine that would usually be given by police to someone caught shoplifting.
Chris Kozlik, whose student daughter Zoe, 21, and her three housemates had to pay £110 each to Leicester council, said: 'All sense has gone out of the window.
'All my daughter did was leave her bin out past when it should have been. You'd get less for beating somebody up. Power has gone to their heads.'
The scale of penalties for 'environmental crime' compares with average court fines of £285 for sex offenders, £237 for violent thugs and £286 for fraudsters, although these are often imposed alongside other punishments.
Time to remove these powers from councils. This could happen to any one, no due process, no trial just fines imposed on an authorarian basis.
New Labour tax gathering in action.
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