Kensington & Chelsea (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Kensington & Chelsea Council reverses £100 fine issued to a cyclist riding in a designated cycle lane, sparking debate over enforcement and signage clarity.
After The Standard stepped in, a biker who had been given a £100 on-the-spot fine for using a shared walking and cycling lane had the punishment revoked.
A Kensington and Chelsea council contractor stopped Dr. Paulo Ceppi, a university professor, and issued him a fixed penalty notice.
On his route to work at Imperial College London, he had been biking over West Cromwell Road using a 20-meter-long lane in the center of an A4 dual carriageway “island.”
Near the intersections with Cromwell Crescent and Nevern Road, which are both on a designated bike route, the walkway is a portion of a shared crossing for bikes and pedestrians.
Dr Ceppi, an associate professor in climate physics at Imperial’s Kensington campus, said the council had used “insidious, unjust tactics” to “trap” Cyclists in what appeared to be a money-making exercise.
“The agent was hidden behind bushes,”
he told The Standard.
“I didn’t see her until I was half-way along the pathway.
I was cycling very slowly and she caught me by surprise.
She said:
‘Please show me your ID.’
I thought I was fully within the law by cycling carefully on what looks like a shared pathway. I wouldn’t have wanted to run away – I don’t want to do something that seems criminal.”
On July 3, the incident occurred at around nine in the morning.
A representative for town hall authorities said that the punishment had been “issued in error” and that it would be revoked when The Standard brought up the issue with the council on Monday.
The council is currently investigating if other bikers have received incorrect fines at the same spot. Additionally, it has instructed its contractors not to punish bicycles who use the shared path.
Dr Ceppi said:
“I’m pleased K&C has now owned up to their error – but shame it only happened after The Standard contacted them and not when I initially challenged the fine, when they backed their agent’s decision.
I hope other cyclists experiencing similar unjust tactics will also have their fines cancelled. More importantly, using this strategy that contracts out to a private company, is at best short sighted and at worst insidious.
It does nothing to safeguard pedestrians as it only informs those cyclists who are fined, while many will continue to use this pathway completely unaware. Ultimately, it benefits no one apart from their bank balances.
Rather than trapping cyclists, K&C need to improve infrastructure and signage for pedestrians and cyclists – particularly along the treacherous A4, notorious for cyclist accidents.”
There are blue signs indicating that the crossing is for cyclists and pedestrians, and “green man” signs for pedestrians and cyclists at the traffic lights.
There are no signs indicating that the cycling lane has ended or instructing cyclists to dismount.
In other areas of the borough, the council contractors—who are employed by a company named Kingdom—have also been observed pursuing pavement cyclists.
Cyclists have long viewed the Tory-run city of Kensington and Chelsea as antagonistic to their interests.
It destroyed a “pop-up” cycleway on Kensington High Street during the pandemic and won a battle in the High Court after refusing to have it put back.
The annual Healthy Streets Scorecard, which ranks the 33 London boroughs according to road safety and initiatives to promote walking and bicycling, included criticism of Kensington and Chelsea earlier this month.
A Kensington and Chelsea council spokesperson said:
“After a council officer has reviewed this complaint and location, we can see that this fixed penalty notice was issued in error and have asked the Kingdom for it be cancelled, which they have agreed to.
We apologise to the cyclist for the inconvenience and will remind officers to check shared use spaces before issuing penalties for cycling.”
The Borough of Kensington and Chelsea implemented a “public space protection order” to address antisocial behavior, including dog fouling, trash, and riding on pavements.
Dr. Ceppi was stopped by an enforcement officer who informed him that, in her opinion, the shared portion of the crossing only applied to the two separated sections that cross West Cromwell Road and had nothing to do with the central reservation’s connecting walkway.
A Kingdom administrator responded in writing to Dr. Ceppi’s original appeal to the council, stating that she was “satisfied that the fixed penalty notice was issued correctly.”
She said:
“The shared area is the crossing and not the actual pavement.”
She told him:
“Although the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea encourages members of the public to use bicycles, we want to ensure this is done safely for both the rider and pedestrians.
Unfortunately we have seen some incidents where pedestrians, including young children, have been hurt or there have been some very near misses due to people riding on pavements in high footfall areas. This can be anti-social as it can make people feel alarmed and distressed.
When an offence is witnessed the options available are to issue a fixed penalty notice to an offender or to proceed the case directly through to prosecution. There are no formal grounds of appeal against a Fixed Penalty Notice. If you wish to dispute the notice, you have the right to appeal via the magistrates court.”
The council said on Monday that cyclists could contact it directly via this link if they thought they had been incorrectly fined.
Dr Ceppi said he accepted the need to keep pedestrians safe, but said the council’s tactics “benefit no one and in this particular case are legally dubious”.
He said:
“These agents have regularly been active in the same area in recent weeks, targeting cyclists in the area, particularly along this very busy and dangerous stretch of the A4.
To me, it sounds more like a money-making operation rather than ensuring long-term safety for pedestrians and cyclists.”
In May, Dr Ceppi was caught cycling on the pavement at the junction of Warwick Road and West Cromwell Road.
“I paid the fine and have been extra careful since,”
he said.
What led Kensington & Chelsea council to back-pedal on the cyclist fine incident?
Kensington and Chelsea council back-pedaled on the £100 fine issued to a cyclist for riding in a cycle lane because the fine was mistakenly given for an action that is legally allowed and encouraged—riding in a designated cycle lane.
The council had introduced a public space protection order aimed at reducing anti-social behavior such as cycling on pavements, but the fine in question was for use of the proper cycle lane, not the pavement.
After intervention and publicity from The Standard newspaper, the council admitted the fine was issued in error and is currently reviewing other similar cases to ensure enforcement is appropriate and correct.