--- title: Girl Fined for Holding Lemonade Stand description: A five-year-old girl who decided to run a lemonade stand in her East London neighborhood was fined nearly $200. canonical: https://time.com/4868393/lemonade-stand-fine-5-year-old/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-21T16:42:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:45:33.732Z og:title: 5-Year-Old Girl Fined Nearly $200 for Holding Lemonade Stand og:description: "Have I done a bad thing?" og:url: https://time.com/4868393/lemonade-stand-fine-5-year-old/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb6ba8cb71eec3f1/6988d6aa196cf49113041204/lemonade-stand.jpg?branch=production&width=517&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 517 og:image:height: 291 og:image:alt: Lemonade stand og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 5-Year-Old Girl Fined Nearly $200 for Holding Lemonade Stand twitter:description: "Have I done a bad thing?" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb6ba8cb71eec3f1/6988d6aa196cf49113041204/lemonade-stand.jpg?branch=production&width=517&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 5-Year-Old Girl Fined Nearly $200 for Holding Lemonade Stand > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 21, 2017 4:42 PM UTC  Lemonade stand Lemonade stand belindaroberts/Getty Images/RooM RF  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Jul 21, 2017 4:42 PM UTC A [five-year-old girl](http://time.com/4723674/birthday-party-costco-ideas/) who decided to run a [lemonade stand](http://time.com/4015190/jerry-seinfeld-lemonade-stand/) in her East [London](http://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/12698/check-out-this-compilation-of-londons-coolest-cars-and-motorcycles) neighborhood was fined nearly $200 for not having a trading permit. In a Thursday article for [_The Telegraph_](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/fatherhood/5-year-old-daughter-fined-150-selling-lemonade/), the girl’s father, Andre Spicer, described how four police officers approached the stand shortly after his daughter had begun selling her home-made beverage. “After about 30 minutes, four local council enforcement officers stormed up to her little table,” he wrote. “‘Excuse me,’ one officer said as he switched on a portable camera attached to his vest. He then read a lengthy legal statement – the gist of which was that because my daughter didn’t have a trading permit, she would be fined \[$195\]. ‘But don’t worry, it is only \[$117\] if it’s paid quickly,’ the officer added.” Spicer went on to explain how upset his daughter was by the incident — which he dubbed Lemonadegate. “My daughter burst into tears, repeating again and again, ‘Have I done a bad thing?'” Council officials stated Friday that the fine would be cancelled immediately, according to [CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/lemonade-stand-london-girl-fine-unlicensed-vending-lovebox-festival/). “We are very sorry that this has happened. We expect our enforcement officers to show common sense, and to use their powers sensibly. 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