Fur flies after letter sent to residents to pay £50 after cat scratching post left on Wellington street

The 18-inch post and some cat toys were left out by someone living on the Kingshaye Road estate in Wellington for neighbourhood cats to play with.

But a few days later, residents received a letter from the Wrekin Housing Trust saying that if it was not removed, they would all face a fine of £50.

But the trust has now apologised, and said it has been contacting residents to make them aware of the mistake.

One resident, who wished not to be named, said he received a letter at the end of June which said the cat toys must be removed as they were causing an “obstruction”.

The resident said: “A kindly resident on the Kingshaye Road estate has put out a cat scratching post for the local cats.

“Despite being barely 18 inches high, the trust has announced that the cat scratching post it is an obstruction and must be removed forthwith.

“Failing which, every tenant on the estate will be charged £50 – a total of several thousand pounds – to cover the cost of removal of said cat-post.”

The letter says: “These items must be removed within seven days as they are in breach of the health and safety conditions of your tenancy.

“If they are not removed within this time then they will be removed by the trust and a recharge of £50 will be charged to your account.”

But the Wrekin Housing Trust, based at Old Park, has apologised for the letter and has been contacting residents to clear up the matter.

Andy Johnson, general manager for the Wrekin Housing Trust said “We apologise for any upset or misunderstanding the letters have caused.

“There should not have been anything in the letters about a recharge of £50 – this was an administrative and human error.

“Once the error was spotted, I’m assured the area team personally contacted all residents by telephone last week to apologise.

“It seems the resident who wrote to the Telford Journal was unfortunately not contactable prior to them sending the letter.”