A London council has fined a five-year-old girl for selling homemade lemonade on the street without a license.
The girl set up the stall with her father Andre Spicer, a professor of organisational behaviour at the Cass Business School at City University London, after a school fete last Saturday in the borough of Tower Hamlets.
After half an hour, the girl and Mr Spicer were approached by four local council enforcement officers who proceeded to accuse the two of ‘trading without a license.’
Upset, the girl reportedly asked her father: ‘Have I done a bad thing?’
The family was fined £150 — although one of the enforcement officers reassured them it would only be £90.
‘Rules and regulations are important,’ said Mr Spicer.
‘But so is space for council employees to use their good judgement.
‘There is a danger council austerity means council employees are forced to fine increasingly benign things just to balance the books.’
The council has since apologised and cancelled the fine.
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson 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 have contacted Professor Spicer and his daughter to apologise.’
