PC GONE MAD: Girl, 5, fined £150 as jobsbody council workers shut down her LEMONADE STAND
OVER-ZEALOUS council workers have sparked fury after shutting down a five-year-old’s lemonade stand and slapping her with a £150 fine.
The young girl set up stall near Lovebox festival in London
Andre Spicer said he and his young daughter had set up a cute little make-shift stall near their home in Mile End.
Charging 50p for a small glass or £1 for a large, the mini entrepreneur was hoping to pull in customers attending the nearby Lovebox festival in Victoria Park, east London, last weekend.
But she was left in floods of tears after four council workers from Tower Hamlets stormed up to the table just thirty minutes after they had set up their little business.
The youngster hoped to target those attending the Lovebox festival
The officers allegedly demanded the stall be shut down as the pair were “trading without a permit”.
And they slapped the tot with a whopping £150 fine for the supposed breach.
Mr Spicer, a university professor, said his daughter burst into tears and told him “I’ve done a bad thing” after enforcement officers read out a lengthy legal letter before issuing him the notice.
The stall was charging just 50p for a small glass or £1 for a large
It’s not like she was trying to make a massive profit, this is just a five-year-old kid trying to sell lemonade.
He said: “It’s not like she was trying to make a massive profit, this is just a five-year-old kid trying to sell lemonade.
“She sobbed all the way home and was telling me: 'Dad, I’ve done a bad thing’.
“She was very upset because she was proud of selling it, and this really soured the experience.”
“Things like this are common in America. When I shared our experience with my cousin who lives in Chicago, he told me this would be a national scandal.”
The council allegedly demanded the stall be shut down as the pair were “trading without a permit”
Mr Spicer told his distraught daughter they would set up another stand once they had a permit, but she replied: “No. It’s too scary.”
Dubbing the situation “Lemonadegate”, Mr Spicer said he now felt confused as to how to entertain his little girl.
He said: “Setting up a lemonade stand is obviously far too risky.”
A spokeswoman for Tower Hamlets Council said: “We are very sorry that this has happened. We expect our enforcement officers to show common sense, and to use their powers sensibly. This clearly did not happen.
“The fine will be cancelled immediately and we will be contacting Professor Spicer and his daughter to apologise.”