Woman, 87, with walking frame fined £150 after jobsworth followed her until she dropped cigarette butt
A WOMAN of 87 using a walking frame was fined £150 by a jobsworth who appeared to follow her and accuse her of littering.
CCTV shows the enforcement officer seemingly spying on Bertha Quinn while standing by a tree — then pouncing to tell her she dropped a cig butt.
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A video posted online sparked outrage because she was not given a warning or chance to pick it up before being slapped with a hefty fixed penalty notice.
Four other council workers were seen nearby as back-up in Romford, East London, at 10.45am on Monday.
They were slammed as jobsworths on social media and accused of picking on the vulnerable.
Furious locals defended Mrs Quinn — believing she might be physically unable to pick up anything she may have accidentally dropped.
Officers claimed the council has a zero-tolerance policy to littering.
The fine issuer is overheard on the video saying, “We don’t give warnings” and, “It’s my job”.
But auctioneer Mick Tomlin, 73, who filmed the incident and put it on TikTok, said: “We see this lady walk past every day.
“She’s a lovely customer and had come in to buy a second-hand pair of slippers.
“I don’t believe she intended to litter but was targeted and followed by officers hoping to catch her out.
“Maybe instead of paying five employees to spy on people, the council should solve the problem by putting that money towards fixing the lack of bins here.”
Mrs Quinn and her friend were told the fine would be reduced to £125 for early payment — but she sadly did not have enough cash.
Mr Tomlin added: “She actually got a bit wobbly on her feet thinking about having to pay all that money. It was really upsetting.
“I get they’ve got a job to do patrolling littering but they should have shown a bit of compassion rather than being rude and intimidating.
“I’ve been inundated with kind messages after posting the videos so it’s been nice to see she’s got so much support.”
Last month, councillors posed for a gloating picture to mark the launch of an enforcement team.
They use the fine money to pay private company National Enforcement Solutions to provide officers.
A press release boasted of the team issuing 319 fixed-penalty notices in their first week..
Romford MP Andrew Rosindell said he was appalled by the video.
He added: “This is a shameful and unacceptable way to treat residents.
“There is no judgment or common sense here and I believe that it brings the council into disrepute.”
Havering Council cancelled Mrs Quinn’s fine after being contacted by The Sun.
It said it was disappointed with the “unacceptable situation that should not have happened”.
A spokesman said: “We are carrying out a speedy investigation. We offer our sincere apologies to this lady.
“We are cancelling the fine and putting new training in place.”