5-year-old London girl fined for selling lemonade on the street
She was 'trading without a permit' near a popular event...
Now, what could be nicer during a stroll to the park on a hot day than coming across an unexpected lemonade stand on the street?
Pretty American, you might think, but kind of cute too, and fantastic if you're thirsty and forgot your water bottle.
So we reckon punters heading off to the Lovebox festival on a very hot weekend in London were pretty happy to see a little 5-year-old girl selling lemonade en route - that is, until 4 police offers swooped in and closed the outfit down ?
They told Andre Spicer, the girl's father and a university professor, that the young entrepreneur - who was offering large glasses of fizz for £1 and small ones for 50p - was trading without a permit.
They even whacked them a fine of £150.
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Andre was livid, telling the Evening Standard: "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.”
We have to say that the local council were none too impressed with how the police had behaved - and issued this statement:
"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.”
Though, unfortunately, it seems the damage has been done in this case, as Andre said he offered to get a permit so his daughter could sell legally - but she's told him she's 'too scared' to do it again ?
What happened next...
We hope Andre's little girl wants to start selling lemonade again in the near future - as she's apparently had plenty of related business opportunities sent her way!
Mile End Park Community Fair, Borough Market and loads more festivals have all offered her a place to host her lemonade stand ??
“Dozens of festivals, markets and businesses have offered us an opportunity to set up a lemonade stand," Andre wrote on Twitter.
“We hope they’ll extend the invitation to others who’d love to make a stand. Children could sell home-made lemonade, hand-drawn comics or vegetables they have grown.
“Young people could do more than sell things, like sharing films or music they’ve created, or gaining support from their local club. We learn through doing.”
?
What do you think?
The police were just following rules, right? And if they turn a blind eye to this, what other, more serious, stuff might they ignore that should really be punished?
On the other hand - where on earth is the common sense? Was it really right to fine and scare a 5-year-old for doing a fun thing that's commonplace in countries like the US?
Tell us in the comments below or over on Facebook
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Tara is mum to 1 daughter, Bodhi Rae, and has worked as Content Editor and Social Media Producer at MadeForMums since 2015
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