No cyclists fined in part of town centre where cycling ban sign was wrongly placed, council confirms – as more riders slapped with £300 penalties for breaching controversial bike ban

North East Lincolnshire Council, the local authority behind arguably the UK’s most strongly enforced and controversial town centre cycling ban, has claimed that no cyclists were fined for riding their bikes in a part of Grimsby where a ‘no cycling’ sign was mistakenly placed.

However, the council once again this week reiterated its belief that the penalties for cycling in pedestrian zones are not “too harsh”, after two men were fined over £300 each for breaching Grimsby’s cycling Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO).

It’s the latest update to the seemingly never-ending PSPO saga in Grimsby, the result of the council’s decision to ban cycling in certain sections of the town centre, with enforcement officers stopping and fining riders who breach the order.

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The policy was introduced ostensibly to clamp down on anti-social behaviour in Grimsby’s shopping streets. However, locals have accused the enforcement officers of targeting “old and slow” cyclists using their bikes to get into town and visit the shops, while ignoring youths “racing up and down”.

Those who refuse to cough up the fine have ended up in court, some being ordered to pay eye-watering sums in excess of £1,200. Since the PSPO was introduced a few years back, hundreds of cyclists having been fined, the council insisting its punishments aren’t too harsh and have made Grimsby “a safer place”.

But earlier this month, we were contacted by a reader who cycled into the town centre and “stumbled upon some confusing signage” relating to the ban.

As shown in the video below, one of the PSPO signs banning cycling was spotted right next to a paving marking indicating that riding a bike was, in fact, allowed on the route, at St. James’ Square.

When questioned about this discrepancy, North East Lincolnshire Council confirmed to us that the sign was “placed in the wrong position and will be moved as soon as possible”. The local authority also confirmed that, as per the PSPO zone, the cycling ban is “not currently enforced in St. James’ Square”.

Despite this, when our reader Rick asked the enforcement officers for clarification, he was told “the sign on the lamp post takes priority over the sign on the floor”.

When we followed this up with the council, they replied stating that there is no record of any Fixed Penalty Notices being issued in that particular area for cycling.

The local authority also confirmed that the “sign in question has now been moved and reinstalled in the correct placement”.

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This week, North East Lincolnshire Council also released a statement revealing that two men have recently been fined over £300 each for riding their bikes in an area where cycling is, in fact, prohibited.

After failing to pay the original fine, both men were ordered to attend Grimsby Magistrates Court, where they were both found guilty in their absence and ordered to pay the FPN plus additional costs.

30-year-old David Evans, after writing to the court to plead guilty, was fined £100, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £40 and costs £200, totalling £340. Meanwhile, Paul Thompson, 43, was issued a fine of £75, victim surcharge of £30, and legal costs of £200, amounting to £305.

“Whilst some suggest these measures are too harsh, there are clear examples of why these PSPOs are in place”, Ron Shepherd, the council’s lead for ‘safer and stronger communities’, said in a statement.

“We will continue to enforce these PSPOs alongside our Days of Action and ever improving CCTV system that has aided in a multitude of incidents across the town centre, all of which has paid in to reducing crime by five per cent over the past two years.

“We will keep amending and renewing the PSPOs to reflect the changing challenges Anti-Social Behaviour presents across the borough.”

The local authority also pointed to, for the second time when issuing statements concerning the PSPO, the case of local Susan Godfrey, who said she was “scarred for life” after being injured by a cyclist breaching the order last May.

“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,” Godfrey 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.”

However, the impact of Grimsby’s illegal cycling appears to have been exaggerated by some of the town’s enforcement officers, including the wardens who erroneously told road.cc reader Rick that a cyclist had killed a pedestrian in the town centre.

“They mentioned the 70 odd injuries and one death caused by cycling in the town centre,” Rick said of his “confusing” encounter with the wardens in St James’ Square this month.

“I sincerely hope nobody has been killed by a cyclist but I can’t find any information relating to it online, so I’m not convinced it’s true. At least I certainly hope it isn’t.”

Like Rick, we did some digging and could not find any report of a cyclist having killed someone in Grimsby, so we asked the council.

A North East Lincolnshire Council spokesperson did not find any incident either and confirmed that “we are now working closely with our colleagues to ensure they have the correct figures to hand when asked by members of the public”.