Frank Hughes, owner of the Olympic Scaffolding Co., in Bootle, England, was confused when a council official came into his small office and demanded to inspect his “industrial waste.”

As part of a nationwide law, British companies that produce any industrial waste must now have a proper license displayed at all times. But Hughes office, usually occupied by himself and his wife, had no such waste to declare.

Hughes claimed the only trash the small office produced were used tea bags and sandwich cling wrap. A state inspector said those items qualified as industrial waste and wrote a $500 ticket for the violation. When Hughes mentioned that he took the trash home with him every night to dispose of it, the official said he’d need to save the waste up for a week and then pay a licensed waste collector to remove the rubbish.