Almost 1,000 cyclists fined under Peterborough’s Public Space Protection Order – in just three months

Nearly 1,000 cyclists have been fined in Peterborough during the first three months of a Public Space Protection Order being introduced in the city earlier this year.

The PSPO bans people from cycling on Bridge Street, and also forbids people from littering, spitting and other activities the Peterborough City Council deems anti-social within the city centre.

In total, 2,973 fines of £80 were issued by private enforcement agency Kingdom in just 96 days, reports Peterborough Today.

Of those, 915 were issued to people cycling on Bridge Street, and 15 for failing to dismount from a bicycle.

Most fines were issued for littering – 1,847 in total – with other fixed penalty notices handed out for spitting, urinating in public, and permitting dog fouling.

People given fines can save £20 by paying early, in which case it reduces to £60, and the city council says that 57 per cent of fines have been paid. Those who do not pay will be pursued through the courts.

The charity Cycling UK has campaigned against PSPOs, which it says have the effect of criminalising cycling when they are used to enforce bans against people riding bikes in specific areas.

Last year, the charity’s head of advocacy and campaigns. Duncan Dollimore. said: 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.”

Cycling UK, acting through the Cyclists’ Defence Fund, is supporting six cyclists in their appeal against fines issued under a PSPO in Mansfield in what is thought to be the first time such legislation has been challenged.

The case has been adjourned while the Home Office revises its guidance on PSPOs.

Meanwhile, Mansfield District Council has held a consultation, which closed on Wednesday, with a view to varying the terms of its PSPO which bans people from riding bikes in large parts of the town centre.