A local politician behind a controversial cycling ban, which has seen cyclists ordered to pay £1,000 for riding through a town centre, claims the punishments aren’t too harsh and are “making Grimsby a safer place”.

It’s the latest episode in the long-running Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) drama in the Lincolnshire town, the council having deployed “enforcement officers” to fine hundreds of cyclists — some being ordered to pay eye-watering sums in excess of £1,200 in court — and the local authority having been accused of targeting “old and slow” cyclists using their bikes to get into town and visit the shops, while ignoring youths “racing up and down”.

Grimsby PSPO enforcement officers (North East Lincolnshire Council)
Grimsby PSPO enforcement officers (North East Lincolnshire Council) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

North East Lincolnshire Council has insisted the ban is not “simply [a] way to make money” and argued it is “making Grimsby town centre a safer place”.

In a communication today, stating that two men had collectively been ordered to pay £1,128 in fines and costs for their cycling through the town centre, the council cited the case of local resident Susan Godfrey, who the local authority claims was “scarred for life by a cyclist who was not abiding by the rules” and suffered undisclosed injuries.

“I’m the living proof of why these PSPOs are in place. If that happened to a child or someone older, they could’ve been killed,” she said. “I just hope people will think more about what they’re doing. My arm shows how important it is to not cycle down there, please, just do the right thing.”

Councillor Ron Shepherd said: “Whilst some suggest these measures are too harsh, there are clear examples of why these PSPOs are in place.”

The comments come as Adam Southwell, a 33-year-old man, was ordered to pay more than £800 in fines and costs for cycling through the town centre. Likewise, Colin Mussell was ordered to pay more than £300, the pair having faced a court prosecution after failing to pay their fine. In Southwell’s case, the initial fine was £440.

In May, another cyclist was ordered to pay over £1,200 in fines and costs for riding his bike on four occasions through Grimsby’s pedestrianised town centre.

Victoria_Street_West,_Grimsby_-_DSC07296.JPG
Victoria_Street_West,_Grimsby_-_DSC07296 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

In 2019, Grimsby became one of a number of towns to impose a cycling ban in pedestrianised zones, using a PSPO which the council claims was introduced to deal with nuisance, anti-social, and dangerous behaviour in the town centre and along Cleethorpes seafront.

The PSPO and eye-watering fines have attracted headlines ever since, most famously, in October 2022, when a pensioner told the council to stick its £100 fine “up your arse”.

Local cycling campaigners have long criticised the ban, arguing that it simply discourages people cycling into town, while also failing to deter the sort of anti-social behaviour it ostensibly sets out to combat.

Active travel charity Cycling UK has also been a prominent critic of PSPOs, which it claims have the effect of “criminalising” cycling. During a debate on the issue last year, the charity’s head of campaigns Duncan Dollimore argued that “banning a whole class” of transport “is not how you address a problem”.

However, according to councillor Shepherd, the local authority’s portfolio holder for communities, Grimsby’s decision to ban cyclists from riding through its main shopping street has “rejuvenated” the town centre with “café and street culture”.

Ironically, when he made those comments, the council used the photo below to illustrate the press release, Shepherd stood in front of boarded-up shops on a deserted street.

Councillor Ron Shepherd Grimsby 'no cycling' PSPO
Councillor Ron Shepherd Grimsby 'no cycling' PSPO (Image Credit: North East Lincolnshire Council)

Shepherd was also responsible for introducing a ‘no cycling’ loudspeaker message on Victoria Street, which was played every 15 minutes before being quickly cut down to two messages an hour, after drawing comparisons to George Orwell’s dystopian classic 1984.

Last year, we reported that, according to North East Lincolnshire Council’s official figures, 1,472 FPNs were issued for breaching the PSPO during the six months between April and September 2024, handed out entirely by Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) officers.

These externally contracted wardens have been heavily criticised for their interpretation of cycling PSPOs in other parts of the UK, and were accused last year of “running amok”, “lying in wait” for rule breakers, and even mistakenly fining cyclists riding legally in Colchester.