Police officer '˜ruins' Mother's Day after confiscating daffodils from two young girls

A Mansfield father has criticised a police officer after she confiscated flowers his two young daughters had picked from a roadside - '˜ruining' Mother's Day. David Taylor, of Forest Fields, had been visiting his mother in Mansfield when he asked his daughters Rosemary, 10, and Emily, five, if they'd like to pick some daffodils from the side of Berry Hill Lane in Mansfield.

Mr Taylor, a carpenter, said the police officer took the flowers from his girls, which made him feel as if they had been “criminalised”.

He said: “I had told the girls not to pick too many, and they had about a handful. We turned around to go back to the car and a police officer was stood there and said we shouldn’t be doing that.

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“I said I understood where she was coming from, but there are hundreds by the side of the road down there.”

Nottinghamshire police said the officer had spoken to the family about picking flowers, and had taken the bunch of 27 flowers to a care home so they did not go to waste.

It is against the law to pick flowers in council parks or from council-maintained displayed, roundabouts or verges. Any gardens planted by organisations, such as community gardens, are also off limits.

Mr Taylor also filmed part of the incident.

His video shows his daughters in car while he asks the female officer “Haven’t you got anything better to do?”

He also tells her: “Go and find some real criminals.”

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Mr Taylor said: “She took the flowers from the girls and it upset them which is what made me act the way I did by taking the video.”

“I have always taught my girls to respect the laws, and for the sake of picking flowers I now have to explain to my kids that what they did was wrong.

“I feel like it could have been dealt with a bit better - with some common sense. She gave me a telling off, which I understand, but the flowers had already been picked so I don’t see why she had to take them from the girls.

“It has ruined Mother’s Day. The kids are just kids so they will get over it - it’s just really rattled me that she took that attitude.”

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A spokesman for Nottinghamshire Police said: “An officer spotted a family picking flowers from a council maintained verge near Berryhill Park, Mansfield.

“The officer provided the family with some advice about picking flowers and the matter was not taken any further. A bunch of 27 flowers were taken to a nearby care home so they did not go to waste.”