£100 fines for Lycra louts who cycle on pavement

More than 5,000 so-called Lycra louts have been given on-the-spot fines for riding on the capital's pavements in the past two years.

But critics say the £30 penalty is inadequate and lives are being put at risk because cyclists are ignoring the law.

Now a new law is being considered which would allow each London authority to set their own penalty levels for the offence. No limit has been put on the amount but insiders say many boroughs could choose to impose a £100 penalty,

The boroughs most affected are Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea.

Martin Low, director of transportation for Westminster City Council, said: "We have been pushing hard with other London authorities and TfL for the power to stop and issue on-the-spot fines for cyclists who ride on the pavement.

"This causes a lot of concern for many of our residents and can be frightening for elderly people and the partially sighted or hard of hearing, who cannot always hear or see the cyclists approaching."

The new legislation would also allow council employees such as parking attendants to take over the handing out of fines from police.

The proposals are part of the third London Local Authorities and Transport for London Bill, which will be presented to Parliament next month.

In the consultation papers the current £30 penalty is criticised as being too lenient.

It says: "It is considered that this is not a serious enough deterrent or punishment in the more serious cases, particularly where the footway is heavily used by pedestrians.

"It is proposed that powers be given to traffic authorities to set fixed penalties for the offence of cycling on the footway in areas where local authority employees have powers under a community safety accreditation scheme to hand out fixed penalty notices. Different levels could be set for different areas to reflect the seriousness of the offence."

Cyclists say they often have little option but to ride on the pavement to avoid dangerous road conditions and traffic jams.

They have called for more segregated cycle lanes to protect them from traffic.

A total of 372 cyclists were killed or seriously injured on London's roads last year, up nine per cent on the previous year and 41 above TfL's casualty reduction target. More than 2,500 "slight" injuries were also reported.

A spokesman for the London Cycling Campaign hit out at the plan, saying it was unfair to charge cyclists more in different boroughs.

He said: "To have different penalities for the same thing on two streets that are nextto each other would be inconsistent, confusing and would undermine the authority of the law."

TfL estimates that the number of people cycling in the capital has grown by six per cent year on year, with about 480,000 journeys on main roads each day.

Mayor Ken Livingstone claims that London is undergoing a "cycling renaissance", and he spent £5.6 million bringing the opening of the Tour de France to the capital this summer.

The Evening Standard has launched a major campaign to improve the safety of cyclists on London's roads.

To join the Standard's cycling campaign email cyclelondon@standard.co.uk