HUGE FINES IMPOSED BY COURT ON CYCLISTS WHO FLOUTED PEDESTRIANS-ONLY BYLAW

Cllr Ron Shepherd - pleased with penalties

A TOTAL of 14  people are sharing a court bill of almost £9,000 after failing to pay fines for cycling in a pedestrian-only zone in Grimsby town centre.

Cases against 12 defendants - their names have not been revealed - were proved in their absence at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court on Friday November 6. 

Each was fined £440 and ordered to pay a £44 government surcharge and £226.04 costs.

A further two defendants pleaded guilty and were fined £70 and £80 respectively. Both were ordered to pay a £32 government surcharge and one was ordered to pay a contribution towards costs in the sum of £150.

The 14 defendants were taken to court for cycling in a prohibited cycling zone in breach of a Public Space Protection Order.

All the defendants had been initially been issued with a £100 fixed penalty notice - none paid up - for cycling in the pedestrianised area on Victoria Street.

The fixed penalty notice is an alternative to prosecution and allows 14 days to pay. Anyone who chooses not to pay a fine can be taken to court.

It was in July last year that a Public Space Protection Order was introduced. thereby banning people from cycling in the pedestrian area. 

Since then, a total of 415 fines have been issued.

North East Lincolnshire Council cabinet member Cllr Ron Shepherd comments: “Anyone who refuses to pay a fixed penalty notice risks a court appearance where fines can be much higher.

“I’m pleased the courts are supporting our stance with these rulings.

“Visitors and workers in the town centre are fed up with nuisance- cyclists putting them at risk.

“Enforcement officers are here to put a stop to this problem behaviour and keep our town centre a safe and welcoming place.”

Officers from Local Authority Support carry out patrols and gather evidence which is passed on to Doncaster Council who issue the fines on behalf of NELC.

Private patrols were introduced after a wide-ranging public consultation in 2017.  

The Grimsby News says: Most people will welcome this crackdown by the courts, but  North East Lincolnshire Council has surely gone about this the wrong way. In other town centres (and on Cleethorpes' central promenade), there is a central route, denoted by two white lines, along which cyclists are free to pedal. It is a system which works perfectly well. Why not adopt it for Victoria Street?