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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
William Mata

Pensioner, 82, fined £150 after she fed ducks in south west London

Merton Council has reportedly apologised to an 82-year-old woman after officials watched her feed ducks at a pond and then followed her home and demanded a £150 payment. 

Faye Borg threw biscuits to the ducks at Morden Hall Park in south west London on Tuesday evening and was allegedly approached by two council staff members.

Darren Dickenson, her neighbour, told the BBC that the warden was "very aggressive and rude” and that Ms Borg was “terrified”. 

“They followed Faye [until they were] outside her house and [then they] demanded she pay the fine on the spot.” 

Ms Borg was given a fixed penalty notice for littering and the £150 fine - but the council has now reversed its decision and apologised, the BBC reports.

Morden Hall Park is a National Trust property not run by the council. 

Merton Council leader Ross Garrod said a senior member had been to her home with a bouquet of flowers.

He told the BBC: “I was very concerned to hear about this incident and would like to offer my apologies to the resident.

“We have cancelled the fixed penalty notice and are taking this matter up with our contractor to ensure that it does not happen again.”

The National Trust also told the BBC that it "will be in touch with the council to understand what happened and how we can avoid something like this going forward".

A remarkably similar situation played out just outside London in February when Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council fined a 68-year-old woman £100 after she fed the ducks. 

The Kent authority later apologised and returned the money.

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