Multiple fines are being handed out to households which fail to put their wheelie bins away after rubbish collection day.

Wardens from Leicester City Council have adopted the tactic of fining every adult living in a property £110 if they cannot establish who was responsible for not putting the bin away.

In one case, four students in a shared house were each hit with £110 penalties after failing to respond to repeated warnings.

The city council said multiple fining would help keep the streets clear of bins – avoiding clutter and potential arson.

Critics said it led to punishments out of proportion with the offence.

The council has issued 60 fixed penalties since it began its wheelie bin blitz in April. On 11 occasions, there have been multiple fines to single properties.

Former De Montfort University student Zoe Kozlik, 21, and her three housemates were each fined for leaving their bin outside their house in Windermere Street, West End.

Her father, Chris, queried the four-way fine which he thought was an administrative error.

He said: "I couldn't believe there would be four fines for one offence at one household.

"I'm not taking issue with the offence and I believe Zoe must learn to take responsibility for her actions but it doesn't seem fair to make all four girls pay £110 when they could split a single fine for a single house."

He said city council correspondence had gone unnoticed because it was posted through a letter box into a locked and unoccupied room.

He said: "They were among the first to get fines in April.

"She's an unemployed fashion graduate without a lot of money so it's me who has to pay up.

"This policy is likely to hit a lot of students who share houses."

Owen Jones, campaign and involvement officer at the University of Leicester Students' Union, said multiple fining was unfair.

He said: "It's like fining a speeding driver and all the passengers in his car at the same time.

"It is likely to affect students more than anyone else. They share houses and are away for long periods during holidays where they might not get the warnings.

"It looks like the city council is looking at students as a cash cow.

"One bin left outside a house is one bin, not four, so it isn't fair to issue four fines."

A city council spokesman said four was the largest number of people to have got a fine at one property and most of the multiple fines had gone to homes with two adults.

He said: "Fines are only issued where householders have ignored all other attempts by us to resolve the issue.

"Our city wardens give letters and information to householders and follow them up with letters or visits, to give advice and explain the need to take in bins between collections.

"If the problem persists, we will try to establish whether there are particular problems preventing people from bringing in their bins.

"If they still fail to remove their bins, legal notices are sent out.

"Each adult occupier of a house has the same amount of legal responsibility."

A spokeswoman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: "Issuing fixed-penalty notices is a matter entirely for local authorities. We do say councils must be fair and reasonable."