While penalties for cyclists riding through pedestrianised areas in the town centres have become more and more common in the last couple of years, with councils using the infamous Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to fine cyclists, delivery riders have urged their fellow workers to follow the rules, after it was reported that 37 Just Eat and Deliveroo cyclists have been fined £100 in Canterbury this year.
While other councils such Grimsby and Colchester have made the most headlines for issuing fines to cyclists, the Canterbury City Council had previously announced its intentions of using the PSPO rule to clamp down on “reckless” food delivery cyclists because of the risk they are perceived to pose to pedestrians in parts of the city.
Cyclists haven’t been allowed to ride through pedestrianised parts of the city such as St George’s Street and St Peter’s Street between 10:30am and 4pm every day for several years now.
However in January Canterbury City Council issued a new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) in a bid to crack down on aggressive driving, cycling through pedestrianised areas and excessive noise. The current PSPO is scheduled to be in effect until at least January 7, 2027.
And now, 37 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN) have been issued to cyclists by enforcement officers working with Kent Police since the beginning of the year, with Daily Mail reporting that tourists and shoppers were complaining of having to dive and dodge couriers on the high street.
However some delivery drivers who have been hit with the fines were unaware they weren’t allowed to ride through the city centre, with a few even in their first days of the job.
Tariqul Islam, a Deliveroo rider was handed a £100 fine barely a week into his job after riding through pedestrian areas outside the permitted hours. “One day I was on the high street at the wrong time and a city council officer called me over and talked to me about the rules,” the 36-year-old said.
“I told them it was unknown to me but they said it's my responsibility to know and gave me a fine. I respect the rules and I agree it was my fault. So after four days, I earned the money to pay the fine and since then I have been following all the rules.
“It's a good job delivering food, but when it puts other people at risk of harm it’s not good, so I call on all delivery persons to follow the law and be respectful.”
Another Deliveroo rider, 29-year-old Shagor Shafi, also found himself in a similar predicament when he didn't know the city centre rules. He said: “I was new, I didn’t know the rules. The council guy stopped me and said, ‘You can't ride on a bike here’. I’m very careful now and just walk my bike through the high street.’”
Just Eat worker Zia Zia has managed to avoid being slapped with a fine so far, but urged other delivery riders to know and follow the rules.
The response from the public towards this move from the council has been positive, reports Daily Mail. 63-year-old Sarah Lockyer, said: “I think the important thing is that pedestrians are protected, given the rights that they should have - to walk in what is mainly a pedestrianised area and to feel safe doing so.
“We get a lot of visitors to the city and they assume that they're not going to bump into traffic, or traffic’s not going to bump into them.”
> “Why pick on a lone female cyclist?” Cyclist slapped with £100 fine – for riding on a cycle path
A Deliveroo spokesperson said: “We regularly engage with riders and local authorities to help keep riders and other road users safe, including working with Canterbury City Council.
“We will issue targeted communications to riders in the Canterbury area to help drive awareness of these rules.’
A JustEat spokesperson said: “At Just Eat, we expect all couriers delivering on our behalf to act respectfully and responsibly at all times. We provide guidance to our independent restaurant partners and self employed contractors to ensure they follow the rules of the road.
“If we are ever made aware that a courier delivering on our behalf has acted in a way that does not uphold the standards we hope to deliver, we will of course take action as appropriate.”
> Canterbury City Council to clamp down on “reckless” food delivery riders
Just yesterday, it was reported that another cyclist found themselves on the receiving end of a hefty bill of £500 for riding through the town centre, with the North East Lincolnshire Council continuing to enforce a controversial cycling ban in Grimsby and warning that cyclists will be "rightly punished" and face "repercussions" if they "have not followed the rules".
The council has been particularly notorious for the many fines it has levied on cyclists, perhaps the most famous, or infamous coming all the way back in 2022 when there was backlash from locals after a Grimsby 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".
Barry Enderby, the 82-year-old cyclist, became somewhat of a cult hero amongst cyclists and road.cc readers after he told North East Lincolnshire Council he would "rather go to prison than give them £100" and they could "stick it up your a*se" after he was fined for breaching a PSPO.
Since then, the Colchester City Council has also come under scrutiny for its utilising of “rogue” wardens who were accused of “lying in wait” to catch cyclists riding on the pavement, after two riders were fined £100 for briefly mounting a footpath to avoid navigating a notoriously busy roundabout and its “thick and fast motor traffic” — a penalty described by one of the cyclists involved as “unjustified” and “a bit farcical”.
Since the start of this year, 62 cyclists have been fined £100 each in Colchester by wardens employed by the Waste Investigations Support and Enforcement (WISE) agency, an external organisation subcontracted by Colchester City Council and at least 20 other local authorities across the UK where PSPOs are in place.