Another cyclist has found themselves on the receiving end of a hefty bill for riding through the town centre, a council continuing to enforce a controversial cycling ban and warning that cyclists will be "rightly punished" and face "repercussions" if they "have not followed the rules".
The long-running saga in Grimsby concerns Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) that North East Lincolnshire Council introduced 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.
Some locals have accused the council's enforcement officers of targeting cyclists "they can get away with", meaning that "old and slow" riders are caught, while youths are still "racing up and down". 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.
The most recent, relating to an incident on 30 August last year, but which has now gone through Grimsby Magistrates' Court, saw a 47-year-old cyclist, Joanne Grey, ordered to pay £534 in fines and costs after she failed to pay the initial £100 fixed-penalty notice.
In court, Ms Grey was proved guilty in absence having failed to attend and was ordered to pay a fine of £220, a victim surcharge of £88 and costs of £226.04.
Councillor Ron Shepherd, who has previously called similar fines a "great result for our enforcement teams", 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."
PSPOs can be introduced by local authorities in a bid to crack down anti-social behaviour, through the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, North East Lincolnshire Council saying, "The act gave local authorities the power to deal with nuisances or problems which harm the local community's quality of life."
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.
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.
The Grimsby PSPO has not been without controversy. 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.
Following Enderby’s fine, unhappy locals launched a scathing critique of how the PSPO is being implemented, and claimed that council officers are not imposing the cycling ban fairly, and rather than cracking down on anti-social behaviour they are seemingly "targeting" people "they can get away with doing so".
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.