Not me, a colleague just now.
He’d nipped over the road to Sainsbury’s local to get lunch, and like a lot of us (me certainly) he’s got a bit of a cough/cold. He coughed on his way out and spat on the floor. He’s not the sort who spits constantly, he’s a well mannered decent bloke with a cough.
Now I didn’t even know these people existed but these two “enforcement officers” followed him back to the shop, marched in and asked for his details. He provided name and DOB but apparently he wasn’t on their system, so they started getting arsey, at which he refused to give them any more info and said ‘just because I’m not on your system doesn’t mean I’m lying’ which is a fair point, he also didn’t like giving his details out to someone who wasn’t the police, another fair point I thought…..As was that he was diabetic and need to go for his lunch.
So they got the police out to force him to give his details.
Are you jeffing kidding me?
From what I understand these are the equivalent of private parking companies enforcing 100 year old
laws on the behalf of the council. I just stood there gawping in amazement.
£80 fine……
Be careful out there everyone.

EDIT.
I hope they don’t follow me on the bike. I’d be £160 a mile for me the amount of snot I produce.

Be careful out there everyone.

Or don’t gob in the street.

I understand there might have been extenuating circumstances with your friend, but it’s a nasty habit which seems to be on the rise.

Any law against nasal snot rockets? I may have racked up a few hundred quid in potential fines on my way in to work this morning/

Well, I wouldn’t hawk up on the pavement, that’s a bit grim, but it’s not really in the same league as dog mess, is it?

I just stood there gawping gobbing in amazement.

This would have been funnier.

If you are pregnant, can you ask to gob in a policeman’s hat?

Bit of a difference between lauching a snot rocket into the verge mid ride and hacking up a greenie in the doorway of Sainsbury’s

Interested whether they have any powers to detain him while they wait for the coppers?

nude ride

That is covered by different public order legislation, I think.

EDIT: You’re quicker on the edit than me!

There was a very easy solution to this problem.

Swallow the greenie … he wouldnt have got done for splitting and had a nutritional snack …. Win win

Bit of a difference between lauching a snot rocket into the verge nude ride and hacking up a greenie in the doorway of Sainsbury’s

In that case though isn’t it up to Sainsbury’s to enforce?

Agreed, I wouldn’t gob on the street in a town. I find it abhorrent. Unfortunately it always seems to be a cool thing to do for kids who like footballing and that saddens me.

Box of hankies is around £1.

Agreed, I wouldn’t gob on the street in a town. I find it abhorrent. Unfortunately it always seems to be a cool thing to do for kids who like footballing and that saddens me.

For me, it seems to be the bailiwick of the ethnics.

a cool thing to do for kids

‘s not 🙂

Interested whether they have any powers to detain him while they wait for the coppers?

They don’t have the power to detain as they are effectively council employees. A lot of councils contract it out so they aren’t even council employees.

what he refuses to pay and asks for evidence?

I’ve just asked him, Sainsbury’s door is straight onto the pavement, he spat it between the bin and the wall just round the corner.
We’ve all done it.

Why didn’t he just spit in the bin?

Interested whether they have any powers to detain him while they wait for the coppers?

They’ve almost certainly not got the power to demand he prove his identity. The police don’t have that power even, unless they’re formally detaining him. Which I suppose they could do, but I can’t imagine they’d want the paperwork for someone who’s essentially just sneezed.

Reckon my response would have been “arrest me or foxtrot oscar” and a note of their badge numbers.

Ewe, your “colleague” is gross.

Hope they made “him” clean it up.

We’ve all done it.

Well I haven’t. But anyway, what “system” wasn’t he on and why did he bother going back to the shop?

My wife was sick in the street half an hour ago. Good thing she was nowhere near Sainsbury’s.

No more speeding fine folks, we’ve all done it.

IIRC (probably not though) is the fining for spitting in the street come from trying to prevent the spread of TB back in the day ?

My wife was sick in the street half an hour ago. Good thing she was nowhere near Sainsbury’s.

1. I hope she’s ok, and 2. I think that’s a bit different. She is obviously unwell, and not even a giant hanky would have helped.

Why didn’t he just spit in the bin?

Point missed.
Yes he knows he did a bad thing but what a jeffing waste of police time and resources. That’s the point.
As I said to the cops who came, I could have some fun and get done for 90mph on the way home for not much more. How do people like this sleep at night?
I’m honestly amazed. I didn’t even know these people existed.

Hope he coughed all over them.

Nothing turns my stomach more than spotting a big green pile of phleg on the pavement.

Couldn’t you just let it dribble down your chin and shake your head to flick it off? Like a saint bernard dog! Technically that wouldn’t be spitting. maybe.

Yep, zero sympathy, he deserves to be fined for a disgusting and anti-social habit.

He coughed on his way out and spat on the floor.

That’s disgusting, specially if it’s discoloured green or yellow infected phlegm. And all the more so if it’s done near the entrance of a supermarket.

he’s got a bit of a cough/cold

So then he almost certainly had a hankie which he could have spat into.

Apart from the deeply unpleasant sight of infected phlegm spat outside a retail food outlet can you imagine if a small child accidentally touches it as the result of a tumble or such like?

It’s hardly surprising that it’s illegal.

Point missed.

Bin as well 😉

Is there a scale of fines for this?

I’m tempted to go and wipe a bogey on the wall outside the local Police Station just to see what happens.

Spat on the floor, of a shop ? Or do you mean the ground outside ?

OK, whilst I have zero sympathy for the cretin who got a fine, I am a little confused as to whom these people were. Surely they identified themselves a bit – and what is this ‘system’? Is this the start of a privatised police force? Off the the Jeremy Corbyn thread….

I have a friend who is environmental and antisocial behaviour enforcement officer for a Scottish council (ergo, our laws may differ some).
Yes you do *have* to give him details if he so requests them with reasonable reason.
Yes the police will help re-enforce his work.
Yes he does have body cam on.
I just texted him about this – he said he has more important things to worry about on the job…likely would have asked you to refrain from hockling up.

I think the key thing here is where exactly did he spit “on the floor”

I wouldn’t give my details to any “enforcement officer”. I’d be tempted to go to court for this assuming he didn’t spit inside the store or on the pavement immediately outside, I think it unlikley it would be pursued. Not good PR for Sainsbury’s

I have a friend who is environmental and antisocial behaviour enforcement officer for a Scottish council

he said he has more important things to worry about on the job…

I can well believe that 😉

I think it unlikley it would be pursued. Not good PR for Sainsbury’s

Yeah. They need to keep hold of that all important ‘gobbing on the floor vote’.

He deserved the fine, the grotty git.