Romford: East Londoners ‘up in arms’ after elderly lady given cigarette end fine by Havering Council

An east London shop owner said he was “disgusted” after an elderly woman was told she would have to pay £150 for allegedly dropping a cigarette butt, with no chance of getting off with a warning instead.

Mick Tomlin, the owner of Romford Auctions in Havering, posted a video to TikTok showing a woman being spoken to by an enforcement officer outside his shop.

In the video, Mr Tomlin, plus another member of the public, are pleading with the officer to give the woman a warning rather than issue her the fixed penalty notice (FPN).

However, they respond saying they “don’t give warnings”, and that it is “my job” to issue the FPN.

Mr Tomlin then speaks to another nearby officer, telling him: “We got done last week, same thing. But them old people, they’ve got no money.”

Later in the video, Mr Tomlin is informed by an additional officer that the council takes a “zero tolerance approach”, which is why the fine has to be issued.

The shop owner subsequently says to the camera: “This is what I mean about Romford. They just don’t want to know. It’s more money they’re taking off people for throwing a little piece of paper or dropping a piece of paper outside the shop.”

A Havering Council spokesperson said the local authority is “disappointed” by the footage, and will be cancelling the fine

Speaking to LondonWorld after the incident, Mr Tomlin said he was “disgusted” when he saw the woman being told she has to pay the FPN.

“She put the cigarette end on the floor to squash it out, and then started talking to someone,” he said.

“The amount of people that have been up in arms over that TikTok,” he added, saying he is “glad” the council will be rescinding the fine.

The Havering spokesperson said: “We thank residents for bringing this to our attention and we were also disappointed to see this footage.

“We are carrying out a speedy and full investigation to understand exactly what happened. However, based on what we know so far, this looks like an unacceptable situation that should not have happened.

“We offer our sincere apologies to this lady. We are cancelling the fine as well as putting new training in place.”

The new enforcement team was introduced by the council earlier this year, in an effort to “crack down on litter louts”, Havering said in a June release.

The leader of the council, Ray Morgon, said at the time: “We are delighted to have these extra officers on board to help us crack down and be a deterrent to people who are blighting our borough with their anti-social behaviour.

“Their presence will be a welcome sight and also signal to residents, that we have a zero approach to anyone littering, not clearing up after their dogs and illegally dumping waste.”