This is the moment a woman was placed in handcuffs by police and fined £100 for feeding some pigeons in London.

Video footage captured by a passerby showed a woman being detained by a group of officers and council enforcement workers in Harrow on Wednesday, in the latest example of jobsworth council officials slapping the public with petty fines. 

A piece of paper later handed to the woman showed she had been stopped for being in breach of a Public Spaces Protection Order which covers town and district centres in Harrow.

The woman, who was in handcuffs and at times visibly upset, was surrounded by at least six police officers and two council enforcement officers. 

It comes after a series of incidents which have seen Brits fined for seemingly harmless behaviour including the passing out of leaflets campaigning against council cuts and leaving furniture outside to go to a good home.

This latest incident unfolded at around 3pm on Wednesday on the High Street in Wealdstone, London.

Police were seen searching pockets while a man who was filming the encounter repeatedly challenged the officers over the stop. 

Her possessions were confiscated and placed in a plastic bag by officers, although they were later returned.

Video footage captured by a passerby showed a woman being detained by a group of officers and council enforcement workers in Harrow on Wednesday

The particulars of the offence were described as 'throwing bread on the floor' in a fixed penalty notice issued to the woman

The woman, who has not been identified, was placed in the back of a police van but was later released and was free to go.

She had been handed a note by police officers which showed she had been detained for feeding the birds.

The particulars of the offence were described as 'throwing bread on the floor'.

It was claimed the woman had received a warning from enforcement officers 'but chose not to comply so police were called'.

The paper added the woman had been issued with a fixed penalty notice of £100, which she was ordered to pay within 28 days to avoid prosecution.

'If you fail to make payment within 28 days you may be summons [sic] to appear in the Magistrate court.'

During the incident multiple passersby stopped and expressed concern at the woman's detention, questioning why she had been handcuffed for simply throwing some bread on the ground. 

Harrow Council has multiple Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs), which ban certain behaviours such as drinking and taking drugs in various areas of the borough.

The woman was stopped under Harrow's Town and District Centres PSPO, which explicitly outlaws the 'feeding of birds and vermin'

At least six police officers and two council enforcement officers were involved in the incident, which saw the woman given a £100 fixed penalty notice