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Town where cyclist ordered to pay £1,150 for riding on shopping street cuts ‘no cycling’ tannoy message down to twice an hour because “it was too repetitive” – as councillor says residents can “park their bike up and walk in”

Campaigners claim town centre cycling bans are making cycling “more dangerous” and “cutting off” entire areas from people who ride bikes

As cyclists in Birmingham voice their frustration at plans to implement a ban on cycling in certain parts of the city – which they claim will make riding a bike “more dangerous”, as it will push cyclists onto congested roads – the local authority in Grimsby, the site of arguably Britain’s most controversial bike ban, has reduced the number of ‘no cycling’ messages played through a loud speaker in the town centre from four to two an hour, because locals thought it was “too repetitive”.

In July, we reported that North East Lincolnshire Council introduced the public announcements reminding shoppers that cycling is prohibited in Grimsby town centre, where hundreds of cyclists have been fined and some ordered to pay sums in excess of £500, and even as much as £1,150 in one case, after the council introduced a controversial Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), ostensibly designed to clamp down on anti-social behaviour.

The short messages were programmed to be played every 15 minutes, outlining the ‘no cycling’ rules brought in through a PSPO by North East Lincolnshire Council in 2019, and which have seen more than 1,000 fixed-penalty notices issued since then, the bulk of which have been for cycling on Victoria Street South and walking dogs along the main beach.

However, the fines have become something of a long-running saga, and council officers have been accused of targeting “old and slow” cyclists using their bikes to get into town and visit the shops, while ignoring youths “racing up and down”.

Councillor Ron Shepherd at the site of town centre cycling ban (North East Lincolnshire Council)

> Cyclist ordered to pay £500 for riding through town centre, as councillor insists cyclists "who have not followed rules" will be "rightly punished"

Nevertheless, Councillor Ron Shepherd, the local authority’s portfolio holder for communities argued at the time that the fines and speaker messages will ensure anyone behaving in an anti-social way will “be made aware of what they are doing and reprimanded accordingly”.

“Additionally, this new [speaker] system will be a way of educating a wider audience as visitors and residents go about their daily business. Should the trial be successful, we look forward to expanding its use in the future,” he said.

However, speaking to the Guardian this week, Shepherd said that the council has reduced the number of times the message plays per hour, after complaints that it was too repetitive for those shopping and working on the 200-metre-long street – but insisted that Grimsby’s clampdown on cycling is “about ensuring the protection of pedestrians”.

“It was every 15 minutes, but we cut it down because it was getting too repetitive,” he said.

“We’ve had a lady who was knocked over a few weeks ago by somebody on a bike. It’s just about ensuring the protection of pedestrians, trying to make it a nice shopping experience rather than having the risk of being run over. We have cycling hubs at either end of the no cycling zone so people can ride in, park their bike up and walk in.”

> Active travel campaigners blast “clumsy, unworkable, and discriminatory” plan to ban cycling in Birmingham city centre, which council says will target delivery cyclists “speeding around city without care”

However, despite Shepherd’s belief that the PSPO has “revitalised” the town centre by stamping out loitering and anti-social behaviour, plans to implement similar bike bans elsewhere in the UK have been met with fierce resistance by campaigners, who say they make cycling “more dangerous”.

Earlier this month, we reported that a new report submitted to Birmingham City Council recommended adding cycling to a PSPO designed to tackle anti-social behaviour, a move the council claims will enable it to crack down on delivery couriers “moving around the city centre at speed and without care for pedestrians”.

However, Mat MacDonald, the chair of the campaign group Better Streets for Birmingham, told the Guardian that the move will hinder active travel objective set by the council.

“If you have someone zipping by at 20mph on one of those things, it does create a risk,” he said.

“But there is already ample legislation to deal with that. There are ways of clamping down on that problem that don’t involve cutting off the entire middle of the city for people who are travelling by bike.

“It would only make cycling more dangerous in Birmingham.”

> "Majority of cyclists are reasonable people and will dismount": Cycling campaign opposes controversial town centre cycle ban which has seen "738 cyclists fined in last few months"

MacDonald added that if a cycling restriction was included in the PSPO, which focuses on the area around New Street train station, it would “force cyclists back on to busy, dangerous roads alongside lots of traffic”.

He also argued that questions should be asked of delivery companies, which he argued contribute to the problem outlined in the council’s report by creating difficult working conditions.

“I have some sympathy for those who are basically on a job where they get paid per delivery, so they’re going to want to go as quickly as possible,” he said.

In response to this criticism, a Birmingham City Council spokesperson said the proposed PSPO would attempt to decreases instances of “cycling at speed”, and of cyclists making certain city centre areas “unsafe” due to the “likelihood of near misses and collisions”.

“The council is seeking to renew an existing PSPO in respect of anti-social behaviour and considering new restrictions where anti-social behaviour is evident. This is being done specifically to improve the safety of people in the city centre,” the spokesperson said.

“We are considering measures to try and decrease instances of cycling at speed through one small area of the city centre where there is high footfall, and it is unsafe to cycle due to the likelihood of near misses and collisions.

“This does not impact on the council’s commitment to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists as part of ongoing developments and its transportation plan.

“Before any decisions are made, we are seeking the views of all through a consultation in how best to manage the issue. It may be that appropriate restrictions should be introduced in this pedestrian only area to restrict all cycles, some cycles, manage the direction of cycles to provide a safe flow of movement, or take no action in this issue.

“To inform this consideration we would encourage all residents and community groups to make their voices heard once when the consultation is opened.”

> “We are sorry if we have not always got it right”: Council waives penalties for cyclists fined by “cowboy” wardens for riding on pavements and town centre streets

As seen in Grimsby and Birmingham, cycling ban PSPOs have proven an almost constant source of controversy and tension in the areas where they’ve been introduced in recent years.

Earlier this month, the chair of a cycling campaign in Bedford lamented the “large drop in residents cycling” into town caused by the council’s “aggressive” implementation of its PSPO, which has reportedly seen 738 people fined for riding bikes in the town centre over the past few months.

A senior doctor also urged Worcester policy makers to see past “so much negativity locally” and implement safe cycling routes that encourage and enable people to leave their cars at home for short local journeys, in a bid to “redress the balance” of the city’s cycling discourse, which has focused predominantly on its cycling ban, branded a “psychological barrier” to people using bicycles.

Assessing the issue of PSPOs across the UK, Duncan Dollimore, the head of campaigns at Cycling UK, said “banning a whole class” of transport “is not how you address a problem”.

“There are people in this world who are irresponsible, and some of them are on a bike, but if that’s the problem, we need to deal with that behaviour. Banning a whole class of activity and a means of transport is not how you address the problem,” he said.

“It’s very difficult to see how banning all cyclists, including people who would have always behaved responsibly, isn’t restricting access, which isn’t what PSPOs are designed to do. Plus, a lot of the companies contracted by councils to issue these fines have an incentive to do so.”

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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25 comments

Avatar
Hywel | 1 day ago
0 likes

None the people in the photos in this article have jobs that improve society.

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mdavidford replied to Hywel | 1 day ago
2 likes

Hywel wrote:

None the people in the photos in this article have jobs that improve society.

Harsh on Ryan, but OK...

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brooksby | 2 days ago
2 likes
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chrisonabike replied to brooksby | 2 days ago
2 likes

This is all good stuff (including about Labour hardly being a friend to cycling - although I think this is "most British governments" also).

Only bit I'd quibble is whether food delivery cyclists are the horsemen of an apocalypse (or indeed doing 30mph...) Maybe others have different experiences but at least in Edinburgh most seem to be slow / more in "bit of a nuisance / startling" territory.

It's not that I think this is great or won't get worse. But if you do think "something must be done" I'd recommend first:

a) directing efforts to dilute their numbers by giving cyclists safe and convenient routes separate from pedestrians

b) tackling "supply and demand" by shining a light on the legally murky world of the food delivery corps - sorry, that should be "totally legal as tested in our great UK courts and an asset to our economy". And having a push against sales of e-motorbikes which are clearly not going to be used legally.

Only *then* is it sensible to tackle the users / confiscate one motorbike at a time.

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Tom_77 | 3 days ago
5 likes

Looking at some of my local byelaws, many of them are phrased along the lines of:

No person shall [do X] in such a manner as to cause danger or give reasonable grounds for annoyance to other persons.
 

I don't see why anti-cycling PSPO's can't be phrased in a similar way.

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Rendel Harris replied to Tom_77 | 2 days ago
2 likes

Tom_77 wrote:

Looking at some of my local byelaws, many of them are phrased along the lines of:

No person shall [do X] in such a manner as to cause danger or give reasonable grounds for annoyance to other persons.
 

I don't see why anti-cycling PSPO's can't be phrased in a similar way.

That's not a bad idea, unfortunately what councillors like Mr Shepherd, council wardens and all too often police and magistrates as well regard as "causing danger and giving reasonable grounds for annoyance" is the very act of riding a bicycle in any way at all. They are not interested in encouraging safe and responsible cycling, they simply want to ban it.

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GMBasix | 3 days ago
3 likes

Ron Shepherd wrote:

“A thing happened, I'm sure it did."

Great. Now do cars.

It's almost as if...

  • Dangerous cycling (RTA1988 s28)
  • Careless, and inconsiderate, cycling (RTA1988 s29)
  • Cycling when under influence of drink or drugs (RTA1988 s30)
  • Wanton or furious driving (Offences against the Person Act 1861 s35)
    ...and, for illegal motorbikes passing as e-bike, or other motor vehicles...
  • Vehicles used in manner causing alarm, distress or annoyance (Police Reform Act 2002 s59)

... don't exist, and we have to make new ones up locally.

PSPOs have the added benefit of needing very little in the way of robust examination of actual evidence for the relevant council to come to the conclusion that the problem exists.

Meanwhile, careful cyclists are unnecessarily outlawed, whereas anti-social Criminals Undertaking Nefarious Transgressions will carry on as before, knowing that town centre CEOs don't have the power to stop them.

 

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polainm | 3 days ago
2 likes

There should be a nationally advertised map of no-go areas for people cycling. South Kensington and Grimsby stand out, but parts of Brighton parade of shame also comes to mind. 

 

Like a Strava heatmap, it would highlight the arrogant councils run by and for drivers at any cost. 
 

Then watch all that passing trade stats.....

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quiff replied to polainm | 3 days ago
0 likes

polainm wrote:

There should be a nationally advertised map of no-go areas for people cycling.

Saw your comment from another article and thought this was going to be about bikejacking hotspots!

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Bikebeer77 | 3 days ago
3 likes

You can't say Grimsby without saying Grim. And as usual let's punish everyone for the actions of a minority. I know why don't we outlaw the manufacture and sale of knives. And get the police to visit every house in the land and confiscate every knife. That will stop knife crime. Fourfootsnake!

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check12 | 3 days ago
2 likes

anyone remember the start to half life 2? 

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Mpcleathero | 3 days ago
0 likes

Tough position. It's hard to argue that the delivery riders on illegal e-bikes aren't harming perception of cycling as a whole. 
it is however  wider societal problem, we can hardly blame them for trying to make the job easier when society is having a minimum wage employee make their food and have someone deliver it for about £3 per delivery. 
Clamping down on these riders and confiscating their bikes isn't really the answer either but we do need to remove illegal e-bikes. Not sure there's any single answer. As ever it being politicised definitely doesn't help. 

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bigfatron | 4 days ago
4 likes

Ron Shepherd would appear to be on a fact hunt.

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LeadenSkies replied to bigfatron | 4 days ago
3 likes

I see what you did there! 😂

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Rendel Harris replied to bigfatron | 3 days ago
2 likes

He is after all the most important figure in supervising the rules excluding cyclists, undoubtedly Grimsby's biggest bar steward.

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ubercurmudgeon | 4 days ago
6 likes

If they really want people to pay attention to their announcements, they need to broadcast them from airships continually floating over the central shopping district. Plus, they could recoup some money by having them also advertise the "chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure" (which, for Grimsby, I guess would be Hull.)

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Pub bike | 4 days ago
9 likes

Mat MacDonald, the chair of the campaign group Better Streets for Birmingham wrote:

“If you have someone zipping by at 20mph on one of those things, it does create a risk,” he said.

Is it hyperbole or are they out with speed cameras?  Most people have got no idea what 20mph is.  If they did the roads would be a lot safer.

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eburtthebike replied to Pub bike | 3 days ago
6 likes

Pub bike wrote:

Is it hyperbole or are they out with speed cameras?  Most people have got no idea what 20mph is. 

At the meeting to discuss the council putting chicanes on the Bristol-Bath cycle path, we had someone claiming that cyclists were doing 60mph, to much laughter.

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chrisonabike replied to eburtthebike | 3 days ago
4 likes

How do you think the cyclists appear "from out of nowhere"?  They're travelling so fast that the light from them only reaches the motorist / pedestrian fractionally before they do!

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slc replied to chrisonabike | 3 days ago
5 likes

That's also why cyclists appear to dress in dark colours. On approach light is blue shifted from responsible orange to macho/slimming indigo. After passing it is red shifted to infrared and hence invisible.

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chrisonabike replied to slc | 3 days ago
4 likes

And why cyclists "fly through red lights" - approaching at the speeds any cyclist can achieve they're blue-shifted and look green...

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brooksby | 4 days ago
9 likes

Quote:

“We’ve had a lady who was knocked over a few weeks ago by somebody on a bike.

Well now: an account of that should be easy enough to find in the local media, shouldn't it?

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Rendel Harris replied to brooksby | 4 days ago
12 likes

brooksby wrote:

Quote:

“We’ve had a lady who was knocked over a few weeks ago by somebody on a bike.

Well now: an account of that should be easy enough to find in the local media, shouldn't it?

Well, to be fair it's quite hard to report because "My mate Dave down the pub said a bloke he works with's grandma's cousin heard from a neighbour that their brother saw someone get knocked down by a cyclist" is quite difficult to fit into a headline.

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stevie63 replied to brooksby | 3 days ago
3 likes
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Clem Fandango | 4 days ago
7 likes

Someone release some cows up there.  It'll be a massacre.

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