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

Another cyclist was ordered to pay £1,150 last year, Grimsby's council trialling playing a "no cycling" message on speakers every 15 minutes to combat "anti-social behaviour"...

The latest chapter in the long-running cycling ban saga in Grimsby has seen another cyclist ordered to pay more than £500 after being caught riding a bicycle through the town centre.

It concerns a controversial Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) enforced by North East Lincolnshire Council as a crackdown on "anti-social behaviour", with more than 1,000 fines issued since 2019, the majority for cycling on Victoria Street South and walking dogs on the main beach.

Last summer a cyclist was ordered to pay £1,150 after being caught riding through the town centre and failing to pay the £100 fixed penalty notice. Likewise, the council has reported that a cyclist, Adam Wherrett, has recently failed to pay his FPN and has since been ordered to pay £508 in total having been prosecuted at Grimsby Magistrates' Court.

The council has repeatedly insisted the ban is about ensuring "people can use and enjoy public spaces, living safely from anti-social behaviour", although some have criticised its enforcement and argue that officers have been targeting the "old and slow" and cyclists "they can get away with".

Repeating his previous message on the matter, local councillor, Ron Shepherd said: "These PSPOs are there for a reason. Not because we want to put them in place or to cause a nuisance, but to ensure the safety of the borough. These people have not followed the rules and for that they have been rightly punished. Others need to be made aware that we will not simply look the other way, those breaking these PSPOs will face repercussions."

In July, it was revealed that the council was to play 'no cycling' messages on speakers in the town centre every 15 minutes, while Shepherd previously called a case of a cyclist being ordered to pay £500 a "great result for our enforcement teams".

In 2023, Lauren Cullum was found guilty of breaching the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) after she was spotted riding a bicycle in a pedestrianised zone in the town. She was issued a fine of £660, and also ordered to pay a victim services surcharge of £264 and costs of £226, a total sum of £1,150.

In response to the hefty financial sum for the offence of cycling through a town centre, some pointed out that by contrast in the same week at Grimsby Magistrates' Court, Paul Berry pleaded guilty to driving at 50mph on a 40mph road. He was disqualified from driving for seven days, fined £60, and ordered to pay a victim services surcharge of £16.

A year earlier, in October 2022, a pensioner made headlines after telling the council to stick its £100 fine "up your arse", his case also attracting outrage from locals who reported seeing council officers targeting "old and slow" riders while ignoring youths "racing up and down".

That is, in essence, the major criticism that cycling groups have made about such town centre cycling bans — that they discourage people cycling into the town, while also failing to deter the sort of anti-social behaviour it is believed they'll combat.

> Proposed city centre e-bike ban will "discourage cycling and penalise responsible cyclists," says cycling and walking commissioner

Active travel charity Cycling UK has long been a prominent critic of PSPOs, which it claims have the effect of criminalising cycling.

"Some councils have used PSPOs as a geographically defined version of an ASBO to restrict the use of public space and criminalise behaviour not normally regarded as illegal," Duncan Dollimore, Cycling UK's head of campaigns, has previously said.

In March, we reported that elsewhere in England, Worcester City Council opted against extending its city centre cycling ban PSPO, council figures stating that it was "more about culture wars than what we want for the city" and that they were "never convinced dangerous cyclists were the big issue", with the ban feeling like "political theatre". Campaigners also argued it acted as a "psychological barrier" to more people using bicycles.

Dan is the road.cc news editor and has spent the past four years writing stories and features, as well as (hopefully) keeping you entertained on the live blog. Having previously written about nearly every other sport under the sun for the Express, and the weird and wonderful world of non-league football for the Non-League Paper, Dan joined road.cc in 2020. Come the weekend you'll find him labouring up a hill, probably with a mouth full of jelly babies, or making a bonk-induced trip to a south of England petrol station... in search of more jelly babies.

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18 comments

Avatar
OldRidgeback | 1 month ago
3 likes

It's depressing hearing of people being persecuted for non-crimes like this while dangerous drivers are getting away with serious offences, maiming and in some instances, killing people.

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chrisonabike replied to OldRidgeback | 1 month ago
2 likes

Ah, but the usual doublethink applies - those drivers *didn't mean to* cause injury (even when they drove in a way that made this very likely, or it can be shown that they didn't care about other road users). BUT these traffic offenses committed by cyclists - deliberate *choice*! Which doesn't apply to driving because it's an entirely normal activity - in fact we *have to drive*.

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Capt Sisko | 1 month ago
0 likes

https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/woman-ordered-to-pay-over-500-for-cycling-through-grimsby-town-centre/

"She received an FPN of £100 at the time but it remained unpaid, despite a reminder letter, leading to her being prosecuted. She failed to appear in court and so was proved guilty in absence. - She was ordered to pay a fine of £220, a victim surcharge of £88 and costs of £226.04."

Rights or wrongs aside, the fine is £100, the rest is because the woman chose to ignore the courts, and the courts don't like that. More fool her.

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Uaf | 1 month ago
1 like

Sounds like a form of congestion area fee. Should other congestion area fees be brought up to this level? Cars kill and maim many more people why are their fees so low in comparison? Maybe pspos should only be permitted when enveloped within a congestion fee zone that includes surrounding streets. Add in 20mph speed limits wherever on street parking is permitted for a more complete protection system for all.

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eburtthebike | 1 month ago
5 likes

Ron Shepherd said: "These PSPOs are there for a reason."

The reason the PSPOs are there is that Ron hates cyclists.

"Not because we want to put them in place or to cause a nuisance,........"

We really, really wanted to put them in place, mainly to cause a nuisance to the cyclists that we can catch: not the anti-social, dangerous ones.

 

 

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Tony W. | 1 month ago
4 likes

There's been at least 5 deaths in Grimsby this year caused by vehicle drivers, 2 pedestrians and a motorcyclist, what are the Council going to do about this, I bet those drivers won't find as much as the cyclists riding through town.

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OldRidgeback replied to Tony W. | 1 month ago
4 likes

That gives some context to this story. The council is trying its best to improve road safety.

And it is failing miserably by not understanding the cause of the problem.

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Charlie_Cheeze | 1 month ago
4 likes

I was very sad to hear that Grimsby is penalising cycle users in the way they appear to be. Yes, there is antisocial issues with some users of two wheels, but an unhinged catch all for everyone, even those responsibly taking a bike through a town is not the right way to tackle it. Having just had a taxi driver park on a pedestrian area in the south of the same county, and deliberately make pedestrians move into a road, there will of course be no penalty applied to his 4 wheeled antisocial behaviour. Despite not being quite like for like, is frankly not fair! The 'share nicely' motto for EVERYONE is all that needs to be ultimately, but sadly, we seem so very very far from that in our current situation across most of the country.

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Mr Anderson | 1 month ago
1 like

Perhaps Carrefour will open a shop here, then cyclists will be allowed to cycle in the shop insteadmail

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Car Delenda Est | 1 month ago
2 likes

Keep being grim Grimsby..

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polainm | 1 month ago
4 likes

Please spread the word 'Avoid Grimsby'. I've already written to Cllr Shepherd that as someone who enjoys cycling I have marked Grimsby as a place to avoid. Although, I'm trying to spend more time cycling in Austria because let's face it, the UK sucks for cyclists. 

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NotNigel replied to polainm | 1 month ago
2 likes

'Please spread the word 'Avoid Grimsby'.'

Any one who's ever been, even without the shit cycling rules, doesn't need telling twice..

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Tony W. replied to NotNigel | 1 month ago
0 likes

I would say most people avoid Grimsby at all costs anyway.

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ROOTminus1 | 1 month ago
3 likes

Not sure what the actual news is here besides another cyclist falling foul of an antisocial PSPO

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Secret_squirrel replied to ROOTminus1 | 1 month ago
1 like

And not even a link to a local rag to substaniate the story...

Its almost certainly going to be a £120 FPN thats been ignored multiple times...

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OnYerBike replied to Secret_squirrel | 1 month ago
1 like

The article says "the council has reported..." so with that in mind, not hard to find it on the news section of the council website. I haven't searched the "local rags" to see if any of them have picked up the story.

https://www.nelincs.gov.uk/four-people-prosecuted-for-breaching-cycling-...

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brooksby | 1 month ago
6 likes

Cllr Shepherd, Grimsby wrote:

"These PSPOs are there for a reason. Not because we want to put them in place or to cause a nuisance, but to ensure the safety of the borough. These people have not followed the rules and for that they have been rightly punished. Others need to be made aware that we will not simply look the other way, those breaking these PSPOs will face repercussions."

Except that (1) I'd wager that there are many things in Grimsby borough which have a greater effect on 'safety of the borough' than 'cyclists riding in the shopping area', and (2) anecdotal evidence seems to confirm that they DO simply look the other way on far too many things.

 

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the little onion | 1 month ago
14 likes

So, cycling slowly is antisocial and disruptive . But having loudspeakers publicising the cycling ban every 15 minutes is absolutely fine?

 

putting the 'grim' in Grimsby 

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