A five-year-old girl was left in tears after being fined £150 for running a stall selling cups of homemade lemonade to passersby.

The schoolgirl was accused of trading without a licence by a council enforcement officer last Saturday, her father, Andre Spicer, said. The officer issued a fixed penalty notice demanding the sum – or £90 if the family agreed to pay promptly.

“She was very upset and had to watch Brave a few times to calm down,” he said.

Spicer, a professor of organisational behaviour at the Cass Business School at City University London, said his daughter decided she wanted to set up the stall in the east London borough of Tower Hamlets after attending her school fete.

“She wanted to sell toys or food or clothes but she eventually decided on lemonade. It was a way to entertain her on a summer’s day. We set up the stand and people started buying the lemonade. They were on the way to a concert and she brought a smile to their faces,” he said.

But he said that, after about half an hour, an enforcement official approached them and “immediately launched into a legalistic script”. They were handed the fine and told to pay within 14 days if they wanted to avoid the higher penalty.

Spicer said he was shocked, adding that the difference between his daughter’s lemonade stand and an unlicensed street trader should have been common sense.

He directed a tweet at Tower Hamlets council and, on deeper reflection, “realised there were broader issues at stake, including how society treats children”.

The fine was dropped and an apology issued after Spicer was moved to write an article for the Telegraph. But the academic, who has also written for the Guardian, said it was one thing for someone in such a privileged position as his to be able to fight back – and quite another for someone without such a platform.

“If there are other people who have been fined in a similar way, then this is kind of worrying. We are shooting down opportunities for kids to learn,” he said.



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 Prof Spicer and his daughter to apologise.”