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Peterborough ditches firm that was enforcing cycling ban and keeping all the fines

Kingdom Services Group fined over 1,000 people for cycling in a year

The firm enforcing Peterborough’s cycling ban has lost its contract with the council. Kingdom Services Group raked in £80,000 in cycling fines in a 12-month period after Peterborough enforced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) but from January 31 the council’s own Prevention and Enforcement Service will take over responsibility.

PSPOs allow for fixed penalty notices to be issued for a series of offences, but they have often drawn criticism for criminalising behaviour that would not normally be illegal.

Peterborough’s PSPO bans cycling in certain areas and as part of its contract with Peterborough council, Kingdom kept money collected in fines.

It currently takes £45 of each £80 fine with the council taking the remainder, but up until the start of this year Kingdom took the full amount.

Between June 12, 2017, when its contract began, and June 30, 2018, Kingdom collected £80,540 in cycling fines.

Earlier this year, a lawyer for human rights charity Liberty expressed concern that wardens may be, "acting with incentives to issue as many fines as possible".

Peterborough Today reports that in April, Kingdom was criticised after one of its officers allegedly threatened to fine children protesting about climate change as they were supposedly making too much noise.

A Kingdom spokesperson said there had been no intention to carry out the threat.

Speaking last year, council leader John Holdich, who pushed for the PSPO to be introduced, floated the idea that the council could set up its own company to carry out enforcement.

Leader of the council’s Labour group Shaz Nawaz said: “I am pleased the Kingdom contact is being brought in-house, especially following the debacle last year of trying to issue fines to children in the city centre.

“The Labour group have been asking for this to happen for some time. Outsourcing such services seldom, if ever, works.”

Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.

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12 comments

Avatar
Boatsie | 4 years ago
1 like

I believed it.
Thought it was golden.

Avatar
ConcordeCX replied to Boatsie | 4 years ago
3 likes

Boatsie wrote:

I believed it. Thought it was golden.

if it's any consolation I once tried to park in a place which was metered except on Sunday. On the Sunday I tried to park there a group of rather paleolithic-looking types were offering to protect people's cars for a very modern sum of money. I made my excuses and left, never to return.

 

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captain_slog replied to ConcordeCX | 4 years ago
1 like

ConcordeCX wrote:

offering to protect people's cars for a very modern sum of money

Bitcoin?

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Boatsie | 4 years ago
2 likes

Boatsie wrote:

I believed it. Thought it was golden.

It's such a charming idea that it deserves to be true.

I'm a fan of the idea that the main thing that separates humans from other animals is that we have stories. A good narrative will win over truth any day.

Avatar
Boatsie | 4 years ago
0 likes

You guys ever read of the car park attendant? I believe he was collecting at London Zoo. Personally installed council type parking meters, attended daily, collected millions.
Then he disappeared. No one knew whom he was, didn't pay tax. Zoo thought it was councils job. Council knew it as part of the Zoo.
Lol. I only read about it. Pretty sure I remember story as London Zoo. Estimated collection exceeds 20million quid.

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Boatsie | 4 years ago
3 likes

Boatsie wrote:

You guys ever read of the car park attendant? I believe he was collecting at London Zoo. Personally installed council type parking meters, attended daily, collected millions. Then he disappeared. No one knew whom he was, didn't pay tax. Zoo thought it was councils job. Council knew it as part of the Zoo. Lol. I only read about it. Pretty sure I remember story as London Zoo. Estimated collection exceeds 20million quid.

It's an urban myth and was originally Bristol Zoo: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/urban-myth-bristol-zoo-parking-1059

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alchemilla | 4 years ago
0 likes

If challeged, what happens if you refuse to give your details to this private company? Theyre not the law, are they?

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Run BMC replied to alchemilla | 4 years ago
0 likes

alchemilla wrote:

If challeged, what happens if you refuse to give your details to this private company? Theyre not the law, are they?

Just cycle away. Most of the chubby little Hitlers wouldn't even attempt to follow you.

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CyclingInBeastMode replied to alchemilla | 4 years ago
3 likes

alchemilla wrote:

If challeged, what happens if you refuse to give your details to this private company? Theyre not the law, are they?

Depends on what authority they've been given as there's different rules (even those rules are shady AF) they could call the police and if they don't turn up in 20 minutes (some say 30) there's nowt they can do, same with a local authority person or a PCSO.

If you can ride away do so, you're hard of hearing so never heard a thing , if they try to pull you off your bike then that's an assault, if they knock you off then that's an assault, as such the committed an arrestable offence. You could try making a citizens arrest and calling the police yourself if you want to up the stakes but plod will ignore the assault and focus on you cycling safely calling it dangerous and use CCTV despite them having a policy of not taking much if any notice when cyclists are driven at and assaulted so they'll charge/threaten you for breach of the peace/public order offence or some such BS for forcing them away from the doughnut run.

Just waiting for the first disabled person to be stopped and they are using their bike as a mobility aid and see how that pans out!

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brooksby | 4 years ago
3 likes

This seems to be happening all over: council gets in kingdom, who are vicious in their enforcement. Council waits to see if the public will put up with it. Despite complaints, they generally do so council gives Kingdom the elbow and takes over enforcement "in house".

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bluemoonday | 4 years ago
3 likes

Maybe if they tried to provide safe, segregated cycle paths ala Amsterdam and Copenhagen, then you would see less cyclists riding through those pedestrianised spaces?

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CXR94Di2 | 4 years ago
8 likes

I no longer visit Peterborough, cycling hatred being one of the reasons. I take my buying power elsewhere

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