Cyclist gets shopping centre bike ban overturned

Agreed, it lacked common sense.
Before I emailed them, I didn't see their website which listed the guidelines.
They provided a link in their first response, which showed it basically stated that bikes were not allowed inside.
So security were doing their job correctly, based on the actual rule at the time, even if it was still overkill.

kamoshika wrote:

I was once asked to leave a shopping centre because I had a unicycle with me, and the security guard told me that bikes weren't allowed. I told him it wasn't a bike. He wasn't amused.

I used to go shopping with a unicycle and in Asda asked if they could just stash it behind the customer services desk while I shopped which they were happy to do.

Should have pulled out a few balls and started juggling while riding said unicycle. They might have laughed hard enough for you to make your disappearing act

I wondered that too. Though you might just be walking through the shopping centre to get to the other side, rather than visit the shops.

You could just attach a big brightly-coloured sign that says 'LOOK AT THIS!', so as to make sure that people are attending to it.

Does all seem a bit daft. People bring pushchairs into the supermarket. I don't see that as a reason for me to drag my bike round the aisles in Tesco.

Likewise I lock my bike outside the supermarket. I don't think that is a reason to expect parents to leave their infants outside in the buggy (though it did used to be common practice!).

These things are not equivalents.

And now the powers will be ruing their decision - already he wants to escalate the privilege.

Your example is not an equivalent either.  A supermarket aisle does not in any way compare to the massive promenades in shopping centres such as the one in question, in which there is no real reason that anyone should be prevented from wheeling a bike through.  

Challenging the lifts and escalators thing does seem a bit OTT - the ones at train stations have generally been designed to be large enough to accommodate bicycles, the ones in town shopping centres are often barely large enough to accommodate a human being in my experience ...   

My apologies if the article wasn't clear.
I was spoken to by security at the Whitgift shopping centre whilst I walked through it in between visiting 2 shops with my Brompton.
I also don't have a lock for it as it would be a magnet for thieves if left unattended.

I should point out that whilst I visited the shops, which were not busy, not one member of staff asked me to leave my bike outside.
If the shops (and areas in between) were busier, I would have folded it to make it easier and safer to move around.
When using public transport hubs, most lifts are too small/packed to use without folding it. I also fold it when using escalators.

I should also clarify that at no point had I requested they change their policy to require parents to leave children outside in their buggies.

I feel your pain - had exactly the same with my Brompton in local shopping centre.  I folded it up and carried the rest of the way, but it was entirely ridiculous as there was acres of space.  Not sure I've ever actually tried wheeling it through the shops themselves unfolded - though if there's security/till near the door I do occasionally fold the back wheel under and ask the if I can leave it there while I go round, if it's a smallish shop.

Which shopping centre was it?
Maybe You can point them to this article and get them to mirror the guidelines?

> Does all seem a bit daft. People bring pushchairs into the supermarket. I don't see that as a reason for me to drag my bike round the aisles in Tesco.

I don't see that there's any real reason anyone shouldn't wheel a bike around with them in a supermarket - particularly at the present time. If you are holding your bike and everyone is maintaining social distance, then it is not possible for it to be an obstruction. With regard to hygiene, cycle wheels only come into contact with the same things that shoes or other wheels come into contact with (due to their size they might be closer to the produce, but they're comparable in size to wheelchair wheels).