Town where cyclist ordered to pay £1,150 to trial speakers playing 'no cycling' message every 15 minutes

In the latest attempts of one council to crack down on "anti-social behaviour", namely people cycling through parts of Grimsby town centre, a speaker system will play messages reminding residents that cycling is banned on certain streets.

The news was first reported by the BBC and concerns Grimsby town centre, where hundreds of cyclists have been fined and some ordered to pay sums in excess of £500, and even as much as £1,150 in one case, after the council introduced a controversial Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that prohibits cycling in parts of the town centre.

Councillor Ron Shepherd, the council's portfolio holder for communities (pictured in the main image illustrating this story in front of boarded-up shops), argued the fines and speaker messages will ensure anyone behaving in an anti-social way will "be made aware of what they are doing and reprimanded accordingly".

He added: "Additionally, this new [speaker] system will be a way of educating a wider audience as visitors and residents go about their daily business. Should the trial be successful, we look forward to expanding its use in the future."

Short messages will be played every 15 minutes, outlining the 'no cycling' rules brought in by a PSPO by North East Lincolnshire Council in 2019 and that have seen more than 1,000 fixed-penalty notices issued since then, the bulk of which have been for cycling on Victoria Street South and walking dogs along the main beach.

Just last week we reported that another cyclist had been ordered to pay £500 in fines and costs for cycling in the town centre. Last summer, a female cyclist was ordered to pay over £1,100 in fines and costs, while numerous others have also received a hefty bill for their town centre cycling.

Councillor Shepherd, has previously called similar fines a "great result for our enforcement teams", and warned that cyclists will continue to be "rightly punished".

"These PSPOs are there for a reason. Not because we want to put them in place or to cause a nuisance, but to ensure the safety of the borough," he said. "These people have not followed the rules and for that they have been rightly punished. Others need to be made aware that we will not simply look the other way, those breaking these PSPOs will face repercussions."

Some locals have accused the council's enforcement officers of targeting cyclists "they can get away with". In October 2022, the local council faced a backlash from residents after a pensioner was fined £100 for cycling through the town centre, with some accusing the council officers of targeting "old and slow" riders while ignoring youths "racing up and down".

Barrie Enderby, 82, told North East Lincolnshire Council he would "rather go to prison than give them £100" and that they could "stick it up your a*se", after he was fined for breaching the PSPO. 

In social media posts shared at the time, one person said they witnessed the incident which saw Mr Enderby fined and claimed that there had been "other young lads riding past" who officers "didn't bother to stop".

Another claimed she had also been "targeted", while someone else reported seeing "three youths doing wheelies and racing up and down" while a council officer "just stood [by]".

In one reply a local woman said: "Catching all the wrong ones... I sat and watched them all last week, only targeting the old and slow cyclists that aren't in anyone's way."

In June of last year four separate cyclists, ranging in age from 31 to 65, were found guilty of breaching the PSPO, with all four being fined £220 and ordered to pay almost £300 in costs, before a month later Lauren Cullum was ordered to pay £1,150.

In contrast, in the same week at Grimsby Magistrates' Court, Paul Berry pleaded guilty to driving at 50mph on a 40mph road. He was disqualified from driving for seven days, fined £60, and ordered to pay a victim services surcharge of £16.

Cycling bans in urban areas are one of the more commonly seen PSPOs and are often justified as a means of tackling dangerous, anti-social behaviour by youths on bikes in town centre areas.

> "We get a lot of kids wheelie-ing through": Police claim danger of "anti-social behaviour" should be tackled with town centre cycling ban

However, they are controversial because they impact anyone who may wish to cycle to shops or amenities in the area. There are also concerns about their effectiveness considering, as has been claimed in Grimsby, often the people whose anti-social riding the PSPO is brought in to tackle could not care less about the local authority suddenly banning their behaviour.

Active travel charity Cycling UK has long been a prominent critic of PSPOs, which it says have the effect of criminalising cycling, with head of campaigns Duncan Dollimore pointing out that the orders only discourage people from riding bikes into town.