Skip to main content

Do you have a licence for that rock cake, madam?



An 82-year-old grandmother faced filling out health and safety forms and a quiz over public liability insurance while selling rock cakes at a community fund-raising event.

Doris Marriott was tackled by a health and safety inspector after helping to organise an Easter bake sale to raise funds for her local park in South Woodford, London.

Over the past five years she, her daughter and her granddaughter have helped transform Elmhurst Gardens from a wasteland blighted by anti-social behaviour into an asset to the local community.

It was even awarded a Green Flag award from Keep Britain Tidy.



'All I wanted to do was do my bit, bake my cakes': Doris Marriott, 82, with one of the rock cakes that she was selling when council inspectors turned up and demanded she fill out health and safety forms



Green Flag award: The efforts of Doris, her daughter and her granddaughter over the past five years have transformed Elmhurst Gardens from a wasteland blighted by antisocial behaviour into this

But Doris and her daughter Claire Marriott, 43, said they wondered if they were the butt of a half-baked joke when an inspector from Redbridge council turned up at their event armed with health and safety forms.

The council inspector arrived midway through the Easter Egg hunt and started taking photographs of the gazebo they were using to shelter from the elements, leaving volunteers flabbergasted.


The inspector then demanded to know whether Doris had completed a risk form and quizzed her about whether she had public liability insurance for the event.


Red tape: The council inspector arrived midway through an Easter Egg hunt and demanded to know if Doris had completed a risk form

Doris said: 'We have done our bit for five years, but this really was the last straw.

'This should be all about the community coming together but now there is such a lot of red tape to deal with.

'All I wanted to do was do my bit, bake my cakes but we had to contend with this.'

Ms Marriott, an NHS administrator, had to fill in the forms on her mother's behalf, detailing who had prepared the cakes and what kind of hygiene provisions had been in place when they were baked.

'It really is red-tape gone doolally - it's completely ridiculous if this is what the world is coming to,' the mother of one said.

'Mum thought she was joking and so did I and we both laughed and said "really?" - but this was no joke.

'Everything we sell is homemade and that is part of the ethos of what we do here - it's all about the community, not going to the cash and carry and buying something.'

The Friends of Elmhurst Gardens group was set up after Ms Marriott's teenage daughter, Jodie, decided the overhaul the area in East London when she was just 14.

The resourceful youngster persuaded the local council to support the scheme and even wrote to the then Prime Minister Tony Blair calling for his support.


But as each year has passed the mountain of red tape needed to hold their twice-yearly community events to raise money for the park has grown, said Ms Marriott.



Doris with her daughter, Claire Marriott: Ms Marriott, an NHS administrator, had to fill in the forms on her mother's behalf, detailing who had prepared the cakes and what kind of hygiene provisions had been in place

'Mum almost has to set up a business plan just to bake cakes and sell them,' she said.

'People across the country will be put off from holding community events. What about church sales and fund-raising school baking - you can't tell me that they are all going to have to do the same thing?


Very experienced: Ms Marriott said her mother had been baking cakes for fund-raisers for years, but increased red tape was threatening her hobby

'I can understand questions about important health and safety concerns - but when it came to the cakes, that was just too much.

'My mum has been baking for school events since my daughter was a little girl and we never had to do all this - I think it is a culture that has evolved of the years and has got to the stage where it's really silly now.'

A spokeswoman for Redbridge Council said: 'An environmental health officer attended this event and inspected the stalls as part of the service's outdoor events assessment programme.

'We carry out these inspections to ensure the safety of any food served and the general health and safety provisions for members of the public attending.

'Where possible, we try to make these checks as unobtrusive as possible and in proportion to the scale of the event, but inspection record forms do need to be filled in.

'These are mainly completed by the inspector and then counter-signed by the stallholder.

'Officers attend to check legislation is being followed, to regulate and offer advice to safeguard both stallholders and members of the public attending the events.

'With regard to this event, some advice was given to the stallholders but no other action was taken

Popular posts from this blog

Study Abroad USA, College of Charleston, Popular Courses, Alumni

Thinking for Study Abroad USA. School of Charleston, the wonderful grounds is situated in the actual middle of a verifiable city - Charleston. Get snatched up by the wonderful and customary engineering, beautiful pathways, or look at the advanced steel and glass building which houses the School of Business. The grounds additionally gives students simple admittance to a few major tech organizations like Amazon's CreateSpace, Google, TwitPic, and so on. The school offers students nearby as well as off-grounds convenience going from completely outfitted home lobbies to memorable homes. It is prepared to offer different types of assistance and facilities like clubs, associations, sporting exercises, support administrations, etc. To put it plainly, the school grounds is rising with energy and there will never be a dull second for students at the College of Charleston. Concentrate on Abroad USA is improving and remunerating for your future. The energetic grounds likewise houses various

Best MBA Online Colleges in the USA

“Opportunities never open, instead we create them for us”. Beginning with this amazing saying, let’s unbox today’s knowledge. Love Business and marketing? Want to make a high-paid career in business administration? Well, if yes, then mate, we have got you something amazing to do!   We all imagine an effortless future with a cozy house and a laptop. Well, well! You can make this happen. Today, with this guide, we will be exploring some of the top-notch online MBA universities and institutes in the USA. Let’s get started! Why learn Online MBA from the USA? Access to More Options This online era has given a second chance to children who want to reflect on their careers while managing their hectic schedules. In this, the internet has played a very crucial in rejuvenating schools, institutes, and colleges to give the best education to students across the globe. Graduating with Less Debt Regular classes from high reputed institutes often charge heavy tuition fees. However onl

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick.  Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o