In a bizarre turn of events, cyclists taking part in the annual British Heart Foundation London to Brighton charity ride were on Sunday met by a one-man protest on the South Coast, a fed-up local expressing his disgust at having missed Father’s Day plans and blaming the event’s “chaotic” road closures.

Police were called to a crossing near the Phoenix Arts Centre in Brighton where Oscar Clarke was “stepping out at every green man, blocking the way for cyclists, and stepping back when they had the right to proceed”.

Protesting the event, which raised around £1.6m for the British Heart Foundation, was not Mr Clarke’s initial plan for his Sunday, but the 30-year-old told The Argus he had been “impossibly frustrated” by missing “a long-planned family” Father’s Day celebration, having “wasted” 90 minutes trying to drive around event road closures.

London to Brighton (CC licensed by youngie:Flickr)
London to Brighton (CC licensed by youngie:Flickr) (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

Mr Clarke told the local newspaper he is “a huge advocate of the event” and “completed the race several times”, but was left unaware about road closures. The British Heart Foundation’s head of events Anna McCaughley insisted they had “engaged heavily” with the community and gave “as much notice as possible to all local residents and businesses” via letters dropped through doors, as well as through collaboration with highways teams and the local authorities.

However, Mr Clarke claimed there had been “absolutely no public information” about the event and “usually there would be a swathe of signage for a few weeks in advance, warning of road closures and diversion routes”. He also said they had not received any information in the post and it “grieves” him to think that others might have missed their Father’s Day arrangements due to “shoddy city centre event planning”.

He left his home on Ditchling Road in Brighton at 10am on Sunday, to drive to Lewes for his Father’s Day plans, adding that his father has had a “very tough year” so they were looking forward to the day.

Mr Clarke told the local newspaper he hit traffic on a one-way street near his home and then learnt that the left turn onto Lewes Road was closed with all traffic sent towards the city centre.

“The wardens would only wave and say to follow the traffic, unable to advise me on a suitable route or tell me which roads were closed further down,” he said. “Unable to do anything but crawl along, I eventually found small roads to try and make my way northbound.”

He then again found Lewes Road closed and could not join the A27. “Impossibly frustrated, and becoming late, I pleaded with the wardens at the Hollingbury A27 junction to radio for advice on how I should best navigate my necessary route,” he continued. 

“They wouldn’t help, and insisted I move on, following the unsigned ‘diversion’ back down Ditchling Road. This put me back in the traffic, eventually crawling back to my front door. 90 minutes wasted, I parked up outside my house and phoned my sister in tears that I wouldn’t be able to make it.”

At this point Mr Clarke said that with “unexpected time on my hands and injustice in my heart” he made a plaque and headed back to the route to “protest the chaotic organisation of the event”.

Stopping at a crossing by the Phoenix Arts Centre, he claimed to have seen cyclists “barrelling through the red light, narrowly missing prams, elderly people, dogs and all pedestrians correctly using the green man signal”, the crossing near the finish of the event still in operation despite the 54-mile charity ride using closed roads.

“I escalated my protest by stepping out at every green man, blocking the way for cyclists, and stepping back when they had the right to proceed,” Mr Clarke said. “Three cyclists ran over my feet while I was correctly using the crossing, almost all of them swore at me.”

A manager attended the scene and the police were called, the officers “reminding the manager that pedestrians always have a right of way when the green man signal indicates it, and cyclists must stop at a red light”.

“He argued that it was a special event. I said that closing the crossing would have been the safe thing to do, if anything, but for the organisers not to take any action to prevent their participants injuring members of the public was outrageous.

“I am a huge advocate of the event, and of cycling in general. I respect the participants for their charitable and green fundraising for an important cause. I have completed the race several times myself over the last decade. However, the organisation of this year’s event has been shocking. The risk to pedestrians due to shoddy management is really upsetting and shows no respect towards Brighton as a host city.”

The British Heart Foundation’s events chief Anna McCaughley apologised for “any distress and inconvenience caused” but explained the significant work that went into notifying the public, residents and businesses about the event.

In a lengthy statement, she commented: “We partner with an experienced events company to ensure the smooth and safe running of the event, and to minimise disruption to residents. As part of this, we engage heavily with each of the local authorities and their highway teams across the footprint of the event, and work collaboratively on the plan for road closures, diversions and re-openings including the communications plan to provide as much notice as possible to all local residents and businesses.

“As per 2024, a resident letter was physically dropped from May 19th – May 22nd to thousands of residents and businesses. This letter gives a summary of the event and has a QR code to allow the resident to scan and be directed to our community guide. The community guide, attached has a full breakdown of event information, covering road closures, locations, and timings.  

“A second letter drop happened in key areas across the footprint, most notably Smallfield in Surrey and Coldean Lane, Brighton. We have a detailed summary report of the roads which received both letters, detailing from London all the way through to Brighton. We also employ 234 paid stewards, 14 safety motorbikes, 20 paid route team managers, and have police support from London, Surrey and Sussex across the 54 miles who help control traffic, flow, and the safety of cyclists, road users and the public.

“Our traffic management supplier installs Advance Warning Signage two to three weeks prior to the event following comprehensive plan for all areas of the route, with information with regards to closures and diversions. Now in its 48th year the BHF’s London to Brighton bike ride is the charity’s flagship event and is vital of raising funds and awareness of cardiovascular disease, which affects over 24,000 people in Brighton and Hove alone. This year this iconic event saw 14,000 people raise over £1.6 million to help the BHF fund more groundbreaking research into new treatments and cures for cardiovascular diseases.”