Cyclists using a pavement to avoid what has been described as a “very dangerous” junction on the A4 in west London are being fined by private enforcement officers working on behalf of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), after the council designated the area a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) zone without visible signage from the neighbouring borough or any public announcement to non-residents.

The incident was first highlighted in a Reddit post earlier this month, in which a cyclist described being issued a Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) after crossing from Hammersmith into Earl’s Court via the pavement beside the A4, a route they and other riders reportedly use to avoid one of the few crossing points over the railway line, where several cycling fatalities have occurred in recent years.

“Problem is that there is a rail line in between Hammersmith and Kensington and Chelsea, so this A4 highway is one of the few ways to get across it without a significant detour (onto roads also famed for high cycling fatality rates, I should add),” wrote the cyclist.

“Most cyclists here elect to follow the home office advice of making a short journey on the pavement next to the highway before continuing onto the smaller roads on the Kensington side.

“To counteract this, Kensington and Chelsea council have declared Earl’s Court a “public order zone” to prevent cycling on the pavement across this dangerous highway and has outsourced the enforcement of this order to a private company, Kingdom.

“This public order zone was never announced to non-residents, and there is no sign indicating it on the Hammersmith side. Today, the company had set up some kind of mass profit operation by stopping all the cyclists coming across that bridge.”

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The rider, who contacted both the enforcement officer and the council, claimed they were told by the Kingdom employee that they were “wasting her time” and should take it up with RBKC directly. When they reached a council official, they said she was sympathetic, acknowledged the danger in the area, and encouraged them to write to local MPs asking them to “choose between £100 and my life.”

“Isn’t this just ludicrous?” the cyclist asked.

The Reddit post has since attracted widespread concern from other cyclists, including one who called the area “really, really horrible” to ride through. Others described Kensington and Chelsea as being “actively hostile” to any transport mode other than private cars, accusing the council of making clear it “won’t do anything more for cyclists because they want them gone.”

Grimsby PSPO enforcement officer stops cyclist
Grimsby PSPO enforcement officer stops cyclist (Image Credit: North East Lincolnshire Council)

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According to RBKC’s official PSPO documentation, which came into force in April 2024 and is set to last until April 2027, riding a bike or scooter on the pavement is banned within the restricted area, which includes the junction where the enforcement is taking place. Cyclists are permitted to push their bikes on foot.

RBKC confirmed the order can be enforced with a £100 fine or prosecution, with a maximum penalty of £1,000. The council has delegated enforcement to Kingdom Local Authority Support, a private contractor that also issues fines for littering, drinking alcohol in restricted areas, and loitering, and has partnerships with several other boroughs and councils.

While the order was formally consulted on, and a map of the affected zone was published on the council website, the cyclist argued that  the lack of signage and the punitive approach taken by private enforcement staff make the enforcement unfair, particularly for non-residents.

One commenter on Reddit questioned the legality of Kingdom staff demanding personal details from cyclists, asking: “What powers do they actually have to stop an individual?” The cyclist replied: “By standing in the way and pretending to be law enforcement (badges, et cetera).”

Kensington Palce Gardens closure (image: David Milner)
Kensington Palce Gardens closure (image: David Milner) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

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A Kensington and Chelsea Council spokesperson told road.cc: “We prioritise the safety and well-being of our residents and visitors, and the PSPO’s restriction on cycling on pavements helps to protect everyone, especially vulnerable pedestrians who have no alternative place to walk.

“More than 90 per cent of people who responded to our consultation backed the Earl’s Court PSPO and we would politely ask cyclists to respect pedestrians by following the Highway Code.”

Concerns about Kingdom’s enforcement tactics have surfaced elsewhere in the borough. In one recent case, a person was fined £300 for placing an empty drinks carton into what he believed to be a commerical recycling bag. He said the Kingdom officer told him she would have let him off if he had claimed to be a tourist, and refused to note any mitigating details.

RBKC also announced earlier this year that it was stepping up enforcement, with fines for low-level offences such as littering increasing from £150 to £300 and new Kingdom officers brought in to assist council staff.

The use of PSPOs — powers originally intended to tackle anti-social behaviour — to fine cyclists has drawn criticism from campaigners across the UK. In Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire Council’s controversial cycling ban in the town centre led to hundreds of Fixed Penalty Notices being issued, with almost 1,500 fines handed out in a six-month period last year alone.

No cycling signs
No cycling signs (Image Credit: Wiltshire Police)

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Enforcement has been delegated to private officers from Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE), who have faced accusations of aggressively targeting ordinary cyclists while failing to deter actual nuisance behaviour.

One cyclist, Richard Cameron, was ordered to pay over £1,200 in April after being found guilty in court of breaching the PSPO on four occasions. Another local rider, 31-year-old Viktorija Kosareva, was fined over £500 on the same day for a separate alleged breach of the order.

Despite insisting that the PSPO “isn’t simply a way to make money,” North East Lincolnshire councillor Ron Shepherd, who introduced a recorded loudspeaker message warning against cycling in the town centre, has been repeatedly accused of harbouring an anti-cycling bias and misapplying anti-social behaviour laws, with some campaigners claiming his enforcement regime is more about discouraging cycling than tackling genuine issues.

Attempts by campaigners from other towns to engage with Shepherd over adopting a less punitive approach, such as Colchester’s “behaviour not location” model, have reportedly been ignored.

In Colchester, the use of privately contracted wardens from the company WISE sparked criticism after enforcement officers were described as “rogue” wardens “lying in wait” for cyclists making minor infractions, including briefly riding on pavements to avoid dangerous roads.

The Colchester Cycling Campaign reported a surge in Fixed Penalty Notices issued exclusively by WISE officers, prompting the campaign to adopt a policy of non-cooperation with the council. One cyclist fined in Colchester asked: “They say cycling is good for health and the environment, but then make life as hard as possible for us — is this supposed to encourage people?”

Head Street cycle lane, Colchester (Essex Highways)
Head Street cycle lane, Colchester (Essex Highways) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

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Nationally, enforcement of PSPOs has come under fire from cycling organisations, including Cycling UK, which argues that local authorities are using the powers to criminalise cycling and discourage active travel, all while failing to address the kind of genuine anti-social behaviour PSPOs were meant to target. Critics say the orders have increasingly been used as a blunt tool to regulate public space, with disproportionate impacts on responsible cyclists.

Concerns about overzealous enforcement have been compounded by councils employing private contractors on a commission basis — a system campaigners say incentivises officers to hand out as many fines as possible.

Those fears intensified earlier this year when the Labour government introduced its proposed Crime and Policing Bill. Among the changes is a clause that would increase the maximum on-the-spot fine for breaching a PSPO from £100 to £500 — a move campaigners have condemned as disproportionate and likely to further empower aggressive enforcement.

The Manifesto Club, which campaigns against what it calls the “hyper-regulation of public space,” described the plan as “a noxious cocktail of over-broad laws that are being enforced by private enforcement companies on commission,” warning that the increase will do nothing to tackle crime but will instead fuel a boom in the private enforcement industry.

“They are being enforced by companies who are incentivised to issue as many fines as possible,” the group added. “This gesture will be cheap for the Home Office but will cost society dear.”

Kensington and Chelsea’s own cycling policies have long been a flashpoint in London’s active travel debate. In 2020, the council faced criticism for removing a protected cycle lane on Kensington High Street after just seven weeks, despite protests and support from both then Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

A High Court case brought by campaigners failed, but RBKC has since been accused of ignoring its own consultation data and “manipulating evidence” to justify the decision. Earlier this year, the borough introduced painted advisory cycle lanes, allowing motor vehicles to enter them when clear, on Fulham Road and Kensington High Street, prompting renewed criticism from the London Cycling Campaign.

“A dotted line in paint is nowhere near adequate to keep people cycling safe,” a spokesperson said, citing the borough’s “terrible rate of cycling casualties” — the worst in inner London.