A five-year-old girl from the east London borough of Tower Hamlets was slapped with a £150 fine by a council enforcement officer for selling homemade lemonades “without a trading licence”.
She was very upset and left in tears after last Saturday's incident, her father Andre Spicer said, reports The Guardian.
Spicer said his daughter decided to set up the stall after attending her school festival, adding that the difference between a five-year-old's lemonade stand and an illegal street trader should have been a matter of common sense.
He said the lemonade stand was a way to entertain her on a summer's day. People, on their way to a concert, were buying her lemonades.
The little girl and her stall had brought smiles to the people's faces, her father added.
But about half an hour later, an enforcement official approached them and handed the fine.
Spicer, a professor of organisational behaviour at the Cass Business School at City University London, said he was shocked.
Tower Hamlets council later dropped the fine.
A spokesperson for the council said they were “very sorry” about the incident, adding that the fine was cancelled and they had contacted Prof Spicer and his daughter to apologise.
Monday, March 24, 2025
