York cycle couriers fined amid 'confusing' council traffic advice

Couriers were fined £50 for riding on a pedestrianised street in the centre of York

Couriers delivering food and medicine in York are being given "crippling" fines because of "confusing" advice about traffic regulations.

Several couriers were stopped and given £50 fines for riding through a pedestrianised area of the city centre on 18 April, the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain said.

It said it had been told regulations in such zones had been suspended during the lockdown.

York Council said they had not.

Ethan Bradley, a Deliveroo and volunteer pharmacy courier, said a policeman had "put him at risk" when he was stopped.

Ethan Bradley was stopped by police in the centre of York while working as a courier

"He [the officer] not only grabbed my handlebars and threatened me with arrest if I did not give my details, but by not using protective equipment put both myself and my customers at risk."

The union said it had been told couriers "could go about their work freely"

The union, which represents independent workers, said the fines amounted to about a day's wages and it had written to the council and asked for them to be cancelled, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"In York's city centre police officers, police community support officers and York BID street rangers, until now - without exception - have maintained the pedestrian zone rules were suspended and couriers could go about their work freely.

"A York City Council operative informed couriers that the city centre was open for key workers and that couriers should 'move the bollards' if they were impeding work.

"From this, couriers were assured that the restrictions on movement in the city centre remained suspended.

"[The union] calls on York City Council to rescind crippling fines on delivery workers performing essential services."

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A council spokesperson said that while the bollards were removed at the start of the lockdown, the traffic restrictions were not dropped.

North Yorkshire Police said: "[The force] is not responsible for lifting or imposing these restrictions, this is a council matter, but if cyclists and drivers are breaching the restrictions police can enforce them."