An Edinburgh pensioner, who lives in a sheltered housing complex, has slammed Police Scotland after uniformed officers accused her of pulling up a neighbour’s plants.
The 65-year-old told the Daily Record that the officers had also threatened to arrest her if any more complaints about garden antics were reported to them.
The OAP said that she could not believe police officers "would waste valuable resources during a pandemic for such a minor complaint".
The woman says she was traumatised by the police visit and added that she thought they were there to deliver bad news about one of her grown-up children.
The accusations were made after another woman who lives on the sheltered housing complex dialled cops to complain that her plants had been pulled up by the pensioner.
Two uniformed officers were dispatched to deal with the complaint, which happened earlier this month.
The accused woman, who has several health issues, said: “When they asked for me by name, my first thought was something had happened to one of my kids.
“I asked them that but they dismissed it and said they were there to talk to me about a complaint they had received about me.
“I’m a pensioner. I live alone and I live quietly, so I couldn’t see what someone could be complaining about me for. When they said it was because I was being accused of pulling up plants, I burst out laughing.
“I got quite heated and pointed out to them that the path by the houses is public and is used by lots of dog walkers and by people cutting through the estate.
“Why on Earth would I pull up some plants or weeds?
“I was absolutely incredulous that they would waste police resources in this way.”
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “We received a report of vandalism to garden plants at Clermiston Crescent in Edinburgh on Thursday, September 10.
“Inquiries were carried out and it was established that there was minimal damage to plants and there was no evidence of a crime.”
