Cyclists who jumped red light in front of police stopped and fined, as force shares footage with "red means stop" warning

Footage has been widely shared on Facebook showing the moment two cyclists riding metres in front of a Surrey Police vehicle were spotted jumping a red light, before being stopped and issued a fixed penalty notice.

The incident happened in Epsom, Surrey Police later uploading the footage to social media, the video having been viewed more than 600,000 times over the weekend. Two cyclists are seen riding away from the town centre on the A24 Dorking Road when the pedestrian crossing traffic lights change from green to red as another person, also riding a bicycle, waits to cross.

In the footage, which has attracted almost 800 comments, the two riders are seen freewheeling for a second before continuing through the red light.

Surrey Police reported its officers saw the incident unfold and the two riders were stopped and fined. Sharing the news with the message "#RedMeansStop", the Surrey RoadSafe page wrote: "Our #SPCasualtyReduction (Surrey Police) officers witnessed two cyclists ignoring a red light at a Pelican Crossing where a person was waiting to cross. They were both stopped and issued a fixed penalty notice."

It's not the first time this year that the Surrey RoadSafe account has shared footage of cyclists fined for riding through red lights. In January, a video was shared showing a group ride of four cyclists at a junction in Esher, the footage being widely shared on social media and online.

As the riders made the right turn a police vehicle was being driven just behind, the driver rolling up to the stop line as the group turned across the junction, the police following moments before the group was stopped and issued fixed penalty notices.

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Some, including a lawyer from Leigh Day law firm, questioned why the video was "unnecessarily cropped to show the cyclists already passed the stop line and not crossing this when the light is red?"

"I don't in any way dispute some cyclists contravene traffic signals and I don't endorse that in any way. If you are law enforcement posting offences for public awareness — make sure you show the actual offence being committed. This doesn't," Rory McCarron said.

In response to the questions, Surrey Police released the full unedited footage a day later, lawyer McCarron commenting: "Thank you for showing the whole video. Justified FPN, no excuse. A lesson learned to the cyclists (and maybe the poster of the original video). Whilst this isn't fatal 5, your work generally is applauded."

Surrey Police also confirmed that all four had been issued with a £50 fixed penalty ticket for 'contravention of a red traffic light' and were "given suitable safety advice for the future".