Roy, a resident of Lincolnshire county, recounted the incident that occurred earlier this year: "I was sitting there when a strong gust of wind blew a leaf into my mouth. I spat it out, and as soon as I stood up to leave, two enforcement officers approached me."

Roy stated that an officer told him they had seen him spitting onto the street and issued a 334 USD administrative fine.

In a Facebook post on 1/11, Roy’s daughter, Jane Marsh, wrote: "My dad inhaled a small leaf that caused him to choke. He suffers from severe asthma and heart disease. He coughed up the leaf and spat it out (just one leaf)."

According to Jane, Roy attempted to explain, even showing the officer the leaf to prove he was not spitting indiscriminately, but they refused to accept his explanation.

Roy Marsh encountered trouble during his morning walk around the lake. Photo: BBC

Roy felt they had exaggerated the incident. He appealed the penalty, which was then reduced to 200 USD. He has since paid the fine.

About a week later, during another walk, Roy stopped to wipe his nose with a tissue. Before he could put the tissue away, another enforcement officer tapped him on the shoulder and questioned what he had done with it, even though it was still in his hand.

Jane Marsh criticized the officers for harassing the elderly. She noted that if a small item accidentally falls from an elderly person's pocket, they are not given a chance to pick it up but are immediately fined. Roy and his wife had previously witnessed officers fining an elderly man who accidentally missed a trash can with a cigarette butt but then picked it up and disposed of it properly.

Adrian Findley, a Lincolnshire county councilor, reported receiving similar complaints from other residents in the area. "The enforcement officers are overreacting... There needs to be discretion in how they issue fines. If it's truly an accident, give people an opportunity to correct it."

However, the East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) stated that enforcement officers "only approach individuals found to be committing environmental offenses." According to the agency, law enforcement is closely monitored, and patrols "do not target any specific demographic" and are "not discriminatory."