Mate of mine got collared the other night by some fellas from the environment agency, for riding on a cheeky trail. It was late evening, and there was no one at all about, but these guys, who were radioed up and obviously working a spotter and chaser system. The mate rode off, but was literally tracked down by a fella in a van.

Anyone else come across this ? I didn't even know they had the power to hand out on the spot fines, nor did I know that it could be done without a formal complaint from the landowner.

Bit of a worry, as in our neck of the woods there are very few bridleways thats aren't either mullered by horsey folk, or that don't go from nowhere to nowhere.

as far as i know you can only be asked to leave an area of cheekiness by the landowner or agents thereof. Also the offence is a civil one not a criminal one so the issue of on the spot fines is immaterial (and illegal)

Hmmm… he was actually fined? Under what authority?

As I understand it, it's a civil matter akin to trespass NOT a criminal matter. If anyone knows otherwise, I'd very much like to know.

Did he get the details of the people handing out the fines? And whereabouts was this, by the way?

it is a criminal matter in some parks of the lakes/ peaks (i'm not sure which) but civil elsewhere.

where was this?

really thomthumb? do you have a reference for this? Not doubting you but i don't like the sound of that and could use some extra info.

there are specific byelaws in place in areas such as the Peak National Park and SSSIs etc, so it's possible he fell foul of something specific? Do you know exactly where your mate was riding, G?

Could be a criminal matter if he's riding through a SSSI, or similar protected site. As it's the EA "policing" it here I'd guess that might be the case?

Max fine of £20000 if you know you're riding on an SSSI, £2500 if you're ignorant to that fact.

Yep it was on the outskirts of Ipswich near a reservoir called Alton Water. He initially suggested that they should take intercourse and travel, but they actually chased him in a van and eventually got him coming through another trail. They gave him a £30 fixed penalty notice. He has no intention of paying it, but you will appreciate a certain incredulousness over it, as he was riding a trail we've used for a looooooonnnnnnnnnggg time, in my instance 26 years.

I think its a footpath, but starts life as a bridleway

Ah yes – lots of land owned or managed by the utilities companies have very restrictive byelaws – and it looks like Alton Water falls into this category. See Anglian Water byelaws

Max fine of £20000 if you know you're riding on an SSSI, £2500 if you're ignorant to that fact.

Jonathan, I think you are reading too much into the law there. From DEFRA's website:

Carrying out an activity which destroys or damages the special features of an SSSI, or disturbs any fauna interest features, without a reasonable excuse can result in a fine of up to £20,000, or an unlimited amount on indictment, if these activities are intentional or reckless and it is known the land affected was a SSSI.

The "special features" of an SSSI can be very narrow and it would be difficult to show that a single mountain bike riding through an SSSI destroys or damages them.

By way of example, the mountain bike trail in Bristol skirts an SSSI on the Ashton Court Estate which is protected due to the presence of rare invertebrates. There are some large beech trees which have rare wood-boring insects living in them. That doesn't mean that if you ride a mountain bike though there you will get slapped with a fine. However if the Estate decided to cut all the beech trees down then they probably would.

The place he was pulled was not on AW land. All of the accesses and paths at the reservoir are designated as cycle paths anyway.

They must of had some busy-bodies complaining to get those bods of they arses in the night – Would be worth someone emailing them to ask their reason for this action?

Were they indeed who they say they were – spot fines – never heard of anything so ridiculous!

Sorry – I wasn't so much reading too much into it as paraphrasing/summarising outrageously 😉

But, given the nature of some SSSIs you could quite easily be deemed to be damaging them by riding over vegetation etc, or disturbing fauna. So it pays to be careful.

it pays pot be careful

Why? Riding seems to be considered no worse than walking by most scientific studies. Are you suggesting that SSSIs should be no-go areas to walkers too?

If you were building a trail there or cutting down trees for firewood it would be a different matter, but anyone who gets fined for riding through an SSSI would be very unlucky indeed

These guys would have quite a difficult time 1. Getting a name addy etc. They have now powers to request this 2. They certainly cannot confiscate bikes etc 3. If they try to call the old bill they cannot hold you there till the police turn up. I think the middle finger is the best option. 😉

Jesus, that's an outrage isn't it? I'd have screwed it up, or given my name as Michael Jackson or something. Random blokes (radios or not) have not rights handing out fines to folks going about their business. At the very most they should have been letting him know that he can't ride there, and shown him how to get off the land in question, not acting like some sort of bunch of rent-a-cops. As others have said, it's at best trespass, and even then there has to be evidence of intent to damage, not just being there…

Find land owner, write enclosing the ticket suggesting with explicit diagrams, just exactly what they can do with the fine…

Why? Riding seems to be considered no worse than walking by most scientific studies. Are you suggesting that SSSIs should be no-go areas to walkers too?

No – I was only suggesting that it pays to be careful to avoid falling into the cluthcs of Environment Agency busy-bodies!

If this is a fixed penalty notice for cycling on the footway (ie the pavement) then it's probably bollocks as that legislation doesn't apply to footpaths, I think.

A fixed penalty notice needs a name etc! They have no authority to ask for this

Why? Riding seems to be considered no worse than walking by most scientific studies. Are you suggesting that SSSIs should be no-go areas to walkers too?

The problem is that in the eyes of the law a bicycle is considered to be a vehicle and not a 'usual accompaniment' of someone on foot. Given that prams, pushchairs and wheelchairs are perhaps it's time for a change in the law, but until then…

Right – we need more detail – can you get it? The fixed penalty notice should have info on it.

However from the limited amount I know he could and should have just told these guys to go away.

DoctorRad, is that distinction frequently applied in the real world? Like in Jonathan's scenario above?

IF they lost sight of him at ANY time during the persuit any fine would be tossed out of court if taken there. I'd bet my bottom dollar on it, having had the police come back to me very angry with the CPS for stopping a criminal damage case in its tracks because the witness lost sight of the criminal while he moved from window to door to collar him.

Well to be honest TJ thats why I'd posted it up on here, because it doesn't seem kosher to me. My attitude to it is that footpaths are fair game after dark, and simply drop into the category of cheeky trail to be used with care and reasonable respect for others. There are few options other than that in the immediate vicinity. In fact I am thinking about trying to get some sort of pressure group going to see if we can get some footpaths upgraded in status for that reason. Quite a few that I use only remain passable because I clear the vegetation back, so I reckon its a fair exchange.

Try to get more info and report back would you. I am interested

They gave him a £30 fixed penalty notice.

Thats **** hilarious – would love to know more about that one as there's no power anywhere in law to issue fixed penalty notices for byelaws, so I reckon they're probably misusing 'accredited person' powers to issue FPN for riding on a footway – which this route clearly was not one of.

reckon you could scan the ticket and sent it to labrat.imba@gmail.com please? Would be fun if we can try and nail this one down properly!

Criminal, rather than civil offence to be off piste on Dartmoor. This is because most of it is Duchy land and as we know, Prince Charles is really progressive in his thinking.

@Mr Agreeable:

DoctorRad, is that distinction frequently applied in the real world? Like in Jonathan's scenario above?

Don't really know, but that's the reason bicycles are not allowed on footpaths, i.e. you wouldn't 'normally' take one with you if you were out for a walk.

Dogs, prams, pushchairs and wheel chairs, yes; bikes, no.

I think Zulu probably has this right

If its the EA, I can only thing of water bailiffs. Sounds very suss to me. Definitely more info required.

EA out after 4? This doesn't sound like it falls under their general work either – usually more water, air and industrial legislation focussed. Natural England have more to do with SSSI and access falls with local council/highways.

Some places have byelaws, but they are rarely enforced, as the cost is greater than the revenue, more a back-up to telling someone to change their behaviour

i.e. you wouldn't 'normally' take one with you if you were out for a walk.

So does that mean no walking across short FPs pushing the bike then? (legally speaking)
I know of one ride recently where we took a shortcut, and yes we did actually push the length of the FP, so we still could have earned ranger's/RA's/landowner's wrath if caught doing that?

that's the reason bicycles are not allowed on footpaths, i.e. you wouldn't 'normally' take one with you if you were out for a walk.

I've heard this before, it's an amazing piece of legal reverse engineering. 😉

D0NK, in the real world, no-one would take issue with what you did.

Had to snigger at timber's comment on the EA being out after 4pm, does seem very unlikely given the subterranean morale of their staff in general. 😉

And also agree that it's more like Natural England jurisdiction now that SSSI's / AONB's were taken from the EA's remit so they now cover more like the old NRA/HMIP/Waste Regs roles prior to their merger.

But if these jokers were from EN not EA then I wonder if this signifies some shift in their approach to enforcement after a review of how the law might be interpreted? Kind of worrying if that's so 😐

@D0NK:

I know of one ride recently where we took a shortcut, and yes we did actually push the length of the FP, so we still could have earned ranger's/RA's/landowner's wrath if caught doing that?

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. That said, as I understand it, your mileage may vary etc:

In theory, yes, as the interpretation of the law does not allow you to have a bicycle about your person when on a footpath. I don't know of any cases ever having come to court though.

As I understand it, like trespass, the landowner or their representative can ask you to leave the land in question, but neither force you to do so nor tell you in which direction you should leave. So you can, in principle, carry on in the same direction as you were already travelling.

You could also be had up in court for trespass, but it would be a civil matter rather than criminal in most cases. The landowner would therefore have to pay for the case – though they would probably seek to recoup costs – and would likely have to show that you had caused them loss or damage. They could also argue for punitive damages to be awarded against you.

Unless you failed to pay any damages awarded against you, I don't think there would ever be any question of a custodial sentence being involved.

Did he see the guys warrant card? EA officers have some defined powers including entering property and collecting evidence but this sounds very unlikely. They are mainly concerned with industry and businesses, with the exception of the fisheries guys (rod licences etc). Is there a chance he’s been had by some enterprising landowners?

There was a comment on here ages ago form soemne acosted by a red-sock on an impassible section of footpath……….

"you shouldnt be on here, its a footpath"

his reply

"well then, its a good job we're both walking then!"

Going back to the Anglian Water bylaws – doesnt it say excluding pedal cycle?

As I understand it if your on a public right of way – footpath it is as pointed out above a civil offence against the landowner. Its only riding on footways – the pavement – that is an offence under the road traffic act. Please note I'm not a legal expert / ranger so this is just my understanding.

I've fallen foul of the EA before – riding the footpath over the dam in Macc Forest. The balif was rude patronising and agressive. His Fffff-in big dog was just extremely aggresive in an almost rabid way. The bloke tried all manner of guff which may have worked if I wasnt a seasoned trail poacher at the time. Came very close to making a formal complaint against him.

Going back to the Anglian Water bylaws – doesnt it say excluding pedal cycle?

Yes – it excludes pedal cycles from "vehicle" restrictions, but there's also a specific clause that probably could be applied to exclude bikes from nice singletrack…

12.2 No person shall cycle in any water park other than on roadways, routes or hard tracks provided.

I was comprehensively grassed up to the Peak Park Authority after posting pics of us riding Stanage Edge, but no action was taken despite incontovertable evidence:

as far as I know rangers have no power of arrest so they can't know who you are unless you tell them. Just say you're me 🙂

I've got to be honest and say that most of the trails I use are cheeky. There seems to be an almost obsessive desire within bodies like the Ramblers Association to keep footpaths all to themselves even though a lot of them are woefully under used. The way I see it, if I'm not doing any damage or putting walkers in danger I've got just as much right to roam as them (I even have a bell on my bike to let pensioners in shorts and long socks know I'm approaching so they can't complain I've come rushing up behind them).
As for EA jobs worths; if they start getting heavy just call the police and get them on the scene. If an EA officer has no rights to impose fines and is behaving in an intimidatory manner the plod will add a layer of officialdom that they won't want to have to deal with. I used to work alongside council enforcement officers and so I know that you should challenge everything they say and question their authority at every stage. Also remember that if you refuse to give your name or date of birth they can't issue a fine. But, never ever get offensive towards them.