A 68-year-old nurse says she was "shocked and embarrassed" after being stung with a £100 fine for feeding ducks.

Susan Watson, from Lavender Hill in Tonbridge, was given an "18-inch long" littering ticket following an encounter with a council officer.

The grandmother was out walking last Tuesday (31 January) through a public pathway, which stretches from Strawberry Vale to Tonbridge High Street, next to the River Medway.

After scattering a slice of bread for the ducks, she was then approached by a Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council officer and given a £100 fine for littering.

The council has since agreed to refund the fine after admitting they had "got this one wrong".

"I was so shocked," she recalled. "I remember someone started to run after me shouting ‘hello'. He told me I was on camera and that I had committed an environmental infringement.

"There were no crumbs on the pathway and the bread went straight into the water.

"I asked if he could give me a warning but he refused."

She added: "He went on to say that what I did could be seen as fly-tipping, which is a much bigger offence.

"It was one slice of bread."

The council has recently brought in a private enforcement company to implement a borough-wide crackdown on littering.

It has partnered up with National Enforcement Solutions (NES) in a project named 'No Ifs, No Butts'.

Those who receive a penalty will be fined £150, or £100 if paid within 10 days.

Susan has been a resident for nearly 20 years and takes the same route every day into town for exercise.

"I don’t always feed the ducks but that one day I had a slice of crust left and thought it would be nice to," she explained.

"Lots of other people do it including children.

"I suggested to the officer that they should put up some signs. He said that it's all on the council's website.

"I rang the council the same day and the women on the phone asked if I was joking!

"They also told me they would ring me back, but they never have."

The nurse, who works at a dementia home in Borough Green, decided to pay the fine – due to fears it would increase to £150 if she left it too long.

She said: "For me to earn £100 is the equivalent of six hours on a night shift.

"I wouldn’t have kicked off as much if it was £30, or if he gave me a warning.

'I’m so embarrassed, I’ve never paid a fine in my life before...'

"I’ve had to take the money out of my pension fund to pay for it."

Susan added: "It’s madness. Everyone I have told thinks I'm making it up.

"I’m so embarrassed, I’ve never paid a fine in my life before."

A spokesman for TMBC said: "We got this one wrong. The enforcement officer from NES considered that dropping what he felt was a large amount of bread into the river justified a penalty.

"However, before this was even brought to our attention, the company had reviewed the case and come to the decision that it was not warranted.

"The penalty has already been refunded and we’d like to apologise to Ms Watson for the error."