Friday, August 29, 2008

Snacks Fall Foul Of Food Police

What have a Torquay power-boat skipper and a Hull mum got in common? They've both fallen foul of the food police. 


First up hungry skipper, Pete, who sailed into stormy waters when he took a bite from a sandwich given by a passenger on a pleasure trip. 

That's payment in kind, said the harbour authorities and you don't have a licence to carry fee-paying passengers. 

Then up to Hull and mum, Sarah, who gave her hungry toddler, Chloe, a piece of sausage roll which fell on the pavement and was devoured by pigeons. But not before eagle-eyed council officials had swooped down on her and slapped a fine for littering.

The skipper pleaded guilty to being a bit peckish and promised not to do it again. The mum stood her ground and had the case thrown out by local magistrates.

"There were safety issues and the law's there for a reason - otherwise every Tom, Dick or Harry (and presumably Pete) could turn up and take people out. We don't want to be killjoys but the point is they didn't have a licence to carry passengers," said harbour spokespeople.

Apparently the power-boat owner and harbour authorities didn't fall out over it. 

Not so in Hull, where a spokesperson for the city council said: "The council's zero-tolerance approach aims to reduce the feeling of neglect and lack of respect within the neighbourhoods and to help improve the quality of people's lives."

Please make it stop.

(Thanks to the Daily Telegraph for putting both stories together on the same page and the headline: 'Sandwich scuppers round-the-world skipper')

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