A four-year-old girl was left in tears after a police officer accused her of breaking the law and threatened to confiscate her bike if she continued to ride it on the pavement.
Sophie Lindley was riding her bicycle to school in Grantham, Lincolnshire, while her father, Dale, walked with a lead attached to the bike.
“We stopped to look at some ducks when the officer pulled over and said she had to get off,” Mr Lindley, 35, said. “He said ‘the law is the law’ and she was not allowed to ride on the path . . . He then drove off but said he’d be checking his mirrors, and if he saw her riding the bike again he would confiscate it.”
Cycling on a pavement is punishable with a £30 fine, though children under 10 cannot be charged with a crime.
Lincolnshire police apologised to the family and said: “Safety is our priority.”