Two cyclists ordered to pay £500 for riding bike through town centre, as councillor says local authority “will not simply look the other way” and that cyclists “have been rightly punished”

Cyclists in Grimsby have once again fallen foul of the town’s controversial Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) – which has previously seen the council accused of targeting the “old and slow” – after two were fined over £500 for riding their bikes through the town centre, prompting a councillor to claim that the cyclists were “rightly punished” and that the local authority “will not simply look the other way” when it comes to people breaching the PSPO.

This latest episode in Grimsby’s ongoing “zero-tolerance” approach to people riding bikes in pedestrian areas in the town saw two cyclists, 31-year-old Joshua Purton and 46-year-old Lee Tear, handed Fixed Penalty Notices of £100 for breaching the PSPO by cycling on Victoria Street on 4 July 2023 and 1 August 2023 respectively, Grimsby Live reports.

Purton, however, failed to pay the FPN, leading to his prosecution, while Tear appealed the decision. The 46-year-old’s appeal was not upheld and he was reminded to pay the fine, which remained unpaid. Neither man attended court, with both ordered to pay £534.04 in total, consisting of a £220 fine, £88 victim services surcharge, and £226.04 in costs.

Responding to the recent rulings and hefty fines, Conservative councillor Ron Shepherd, North East Lincolnshire Council’s portfolio holder for ‘safer and stronger communities’ 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.”

> Cyclist ordered to pay over £1,000 for riding bike in town centre – after council accused of targeting “old and slow”

Those repercussions have certainly been felt over the past few years, with 85 people fined in 2023 alone for cycling in “prohibited areas”, in what Shepherd described as a “great result for our enforcement teams”.

Last summer, the council made headlines after a female cyclist was ordered to pay £1,150 in fines and costs after being caught breaching the PSPO, which was introduced in 2019 and has seen more than 1,000 fixed-penalty notices, the majority of which have been for cycling on Victoria Street South and walking dogs along the main beach.

In December, the council said it has “escalated” and “intensified” its “war on cycling menaces” by implementing a complete ban on riding a bike in pedestrianised zones, as part of a wider crackdown on anti-social behaviour, with these latest hefty penalties following another £500 fine for cyclist Andrew Billingham earlier this year, who appealed his FPN after claiming he had dismounted before entering Victoria Street.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the council and its enforcement officers have come in for criticism during the five years the PSPO has been in place, locals accusing council officers of targeting “old and slow” cyclists after a pensioner was fined for riding through the town in 2022, while ignoring youths “racing up and down”.

Barrie Enderby, who was 82 at the time, told the council to “stick it up your arse” after being fined £100 for breaching the order.

“I’ve been riding my bike around here for 40 years and have never once been fined,” he said at the time. “I’m more annoyed about it because my biking is what keeps me going. I’ve never had a problem when out on my bike before.

“I’ve seen all sorts going on around town in the past and they chose to give me a ticket. If he had just asked me not to ride my bike I would have understood and stopped out of respect, but I never got the chance.”

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July 2023 also saw the aforementioned incident resulting in 31-year-old Lauren Cullum being ordered to pay more than £1,100 in fines.

Some questioned the fairness of the punishment especially as, in 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.

North East Lincolnshire Council introduced the PSPO in 2019 and last year announced it had been extended until 2025. Local authorities are able to introduce such measures under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime, and Policing Act of 2014 in order to tackle issues of a particular nuisance or problem in an area that is detrimental to the local community’s quality of life.