Four enforcement officers surrounded a man who refused to pay a hefty fine for “accidentally” littering in Harrow.

A passer-by said he saw a small piece of paper – possibly a receipt – drop as the man pulled his phone from his pocket outside St Ann’s Shopping Centre on Tuesday.

The unsuspecting litterbug was quickly approached by two Harrow Council civil enforcement officers seeking to issue him with an on-the-spot fine.

Despite his protestations of innocence and offering to pick up the offending item, PCSOs were called in for support when he refused to pay up.

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Dylan Shah, 34, witnessed the events unfolding.

“He explained he wasn’t aware of it and offered to pick it up but one of the guys radioed the police and said he was refusing to pay. Three minutes later two community support officers came over and told him he had to pay,” he said.

“I went up to them afterwards and said ‘do you think it is right what you have done?’ because you have basically bullied him. They said ‘I can’t comment’. I think they knew they had done something wrong.

“The two civil officers just laughed and walked away. I think it’s disgraceful.”

Mr Shah questioned the need for so many people to get involved in such a minor offence.

“To use the PCSOs is a waste of council and police resources – there are much worse crimes in Harrow.

“He wasn’t from this country and didn’t speak very good English. He wasn’t being aggressive at all but they put him under a lot of pressure.

“It looked like a kind of acceptable mugging to me. When you involve four people surrounding someone it seems a little extreme. To get the police involved is really disgraceful.”

Harrow Council said police officers or PCSOs are only used to diffuse such situations if they become volatile or where the person fined refuses to give their details.

The council added that civil officers are not given incentives to issue fines nor do they take payment at the time, and people issued with fines are able to put in an appeal if they feel aggrieved.