From The Times, 15/02/2000:
A painter and decorator, Robert Pearcey was convicted of taking pebbles from a beach. The mayor of Budleigh Salterton said "I blame Charlie Dimmock and Alan Titmarsh from Groundforce. Children has always taken home the odd pebble from the beach but since we've had fancy gardens it has become a problem because they are disappearing in large numbers. Its got worse because of the number of gardening programmes that suggest making paths or ponds or seaside features out of pebbles." Pearcey, 41, was seen carrying buckets of pebbles from a beach. East Devon Council introducted bylaws three years ago under the 1949 Coastal Protection Act to stop people taking large pebbles from the beach. Pearcy denied taking a bucket of pebbles from the beach and said that he and his wife were carrying crabs that he had just landed. He was found guilty, conditionally discharged for 12 months and ordered to pay £250 costs. The mayor said "East Devon District Council brought this case because they wanted to make an example of somebody".