If you think some modern-day rules and regulations are nuts then spare a thought for the Milton family who say they are to receive a £60 fine for feeding squirrels.

Sandra Spearing was in Sittingbourne High Street with her daughter Emma-Louise Dawson, 21, and granddaughter Lacie-Louise Murphy, who is one.

“I gave my granddaughter a slice of the Christmas cake we bought in Iceland,” said the 45-year-old.

“She didn’t like it and as we were walking past the churchyard there were a couple of squirrels.

"A crisp packet, fair enough, I teach the kids to throw that in the bin, but it was cake we threw to the squirrels"

“I said to throw them the cake instead of wasting it. The next moment, an enforcement officer came over and said ‘What have you just thrown?’

“My daughter said it was cake for the squirrels and he said ‘I am going to have to fine you’.”

Mrs Spearing, of Dean Road, Milton, added: “The man saw the squirrels eating the cake. He said it was all on camera. I said ‘Good, I’m appealing against it’.”

The fine is believed to be the same as that handed to people seen littering by Swale council’s enforcement officers. It is for £60, if paid within 14 days.

“What would have happened if my granddaughter had dropped a crisp,” asked Mrs Spearing.

“Would we have been fined for that? A crisp packet, fair enough, I teach the kids to throw that in the bin, but it was cake we threw to the squirrels.

“I can laugh now but I was annoyed at the time.”

A council spokesman said the fixed penalty notice scheme in Swale was put in place in response to genuine concerns about those who drop litter.

He added: “An officer approached a woman in the High Street after witnessing her throw something a considerable distance over the wall into the graveyard of the church.

"When asked, she confirmed that despite being only a short distance from a bin she had thrown a ‘cake bar’ a child had refused, claiming it was to feed squirrels which the officer could not see.

"He took her details to issue a fixed penalty notice as she was getting into a taxi to leave.

“We understand people may have different views on whether this was an offence, but local people consistently raise concerns about the level of litter in the area, and rightly expect us to take action against the small minority who make the mess we have to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds every year cleaning up.

“Like many popular high streets, there have been issues with rats attracted by discarded food which can transmit disease and cause damage to homes and businesses.”