A video captured by a passer-by shows the moment a woman in her 40s was detained by police and fined £100 on High Street, Wealdstone on Wednesday (January 7).
The Standard reported that a notice was later handed to the woman and showed she had initially been stopped for breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which covers towns and district centres in Harrow.
The PSPO explicitly outlaws the “feeding of birds and vermin”.
The woman, who has not been identified, could be seen being placed in the back of a police van but was later given a note by police and released.
The note confirmed she had been detained for the “offence” of “throwing bread on the floor”.
It claimed the woman had received a warning from enforcement officers “but chose not to comply so police were called”.
The man who captured the video could be heard multiple times saying: “the lady is getting arrested for feeding the pigeons”.
The notice confirmed that the woman had been issued with a fixed penalty notice of £100, which she was ordered to pay within 28 days to avoid prosecution.
Failure to make payment within 28 days could result in a summons to appear in the Magistrate court, according to the note.
Other activities that are forbidden by the PSPO include aggressive begging, blocking access to businesses during opening hours and leaving commercial waste in public spaces.
The enforcement of these orders are typically left to council officers, but police can become involved if a person refuses to comply.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “At around 14:30hrs on Wednesday, 7 January officers were approached by local council enforcement officers dealing with an anti-social behaviour incident on Wealdstone High Street, Harrow.
“A woman, in her 40s, was repeatedly asked to provide her name and address so that a fixed penalty notice could be issued.
“After speaking with officers for around 20 minutes, she repeatedly refused to provide her personal details.
“She was arrested on suspicion of breaching Section 50 of the Police Reform Act, which requires people to provide their name and address when requested to do so by the police.
“Her details were later obtained, and she was de-arrested and dealt with by council officers.”
