On yer bike!

Okay, hands up I was one (of the many) who were fed up with cyclists careering down Bridge Street with no regard for the safety of other people. And yes I was one (of many) who called on the city council to sort it out...

But what I didn’t want was for decent, ordinary citizens to be demonised and used as a cash cow. The PT has heard of several cases where common sense, traditional British fair play and basic human decency has not been applied to some people who have fallen foul of the rules.

Kingdom (the company employed by the council) has written to people it has ticketed to tell them they have no right of appeal.

This is like the dark ages – perhaps we should tie an offending cyclist to a ducking stool in the Lido!

It is just unacceptable, and the city council needs to look at how it is treating its residents and visitors.

Cabinet member Irene Walsh talked sense when she said: “We understand how the enforcement for issues like cycling can be viewed as excessive, but as a local authority we are trying to take a measured and proportionate response to an issue that had generated concern in a busy pedestrian area.’’

The problem is, Irene, what we are seeing is the very opposite of a ‘‘ measured and proportionate response.’’

The city council needs to send a message to Kingdom and that’s “On your bike!’’