The radio crackles as a warning comes through. A cyclist has reportedly just sworn at council officers who had told him to get off his bike. As he rides towards the middle of Queen Street, his carefree expression creasing into a frown, he realises his mistake too late.
The young man, wearing a Zavetti Canada puffer jacket, suddenly finds himself facing two PCSOs (police community support officers) in the pedestrianised Cardiff shopping street where cycling has been banned for decades. There is an air of melancholy on this Wednesday lunchtime as a nearby busker plays Lou Reed's Perfect Day on an oboe. Cardiff council wardens are stationed at both ends of Queen Street while PCSOs wait near the centre to hand rule-breakers £50 fines. As this particular cyclist receives a fixed penalty notice he is challenged on his manners.
"You told my council colleagues to f*** off," says one of the PCSOs. The cyclist protests that he does not speak English but the officer replies: "Well you told them to f*** off. That's English."
Read next: The latest list of people and businesses caught evading tax in Wales
For years bikes hurtling along the busy street have left some shoppers fearing for their safety. The no-cycling byelaw has been in place since 1981 but there have long been complaints that clear signage is being ignored without any consequences for the culprits. Every few years a new petition has called for more enforcement. At one stage it seemed likely that the ban would be lifted – a proposal mooted in 2011 because so many people were flouting the rule.
But recently the council and police have taken a very different stance. For an hour or two each week – at varying times to avoid predictability – the authorities have been enforcing the ban with £50 fines.
Dave Sultana took over management of the city centre's council wardens in September and within days he had worked with police to introduce weekly enforcement. "The first thing I asked the wardens was: 'What's the biggest issue?' And they said it was cycling in the precinct," Dave tells us when we meet at one of the sessions.
The 50-year-old, born and raised in Cardiff, says the crackdown has made a "huge difference" over the last four months – especially in damming the flood of food delivery cyclists on the street – but not all have got the message. Soon after arriving at 12pm we see several delivery riders being stopped.
One Deliveroo cyclist called Martin is perplexed by his fine. "£50? That's mad," he tells a PCSO. Martin says he has been delivering food in Cardiff for three years without knowing the rule but the officer replies: "You have been told." The PCSO points out that delivery companies have given repeated assurances that riders will abide by the rule.
Martin responds: "I don't deliver here that often. Is there any way to get a warning?" The PCSO says there is not but the rider protests: "There are no signs at all." The officer replies that there is a sign at every entrance before the cyclist appears to resign himself to the fine. "I think 100% there should be a warning," he tells us.
Another three cyclists arrive in quick succession as Dave and the four PCSOs scramble to stop them all near the Queen Street carousel. One middle-aged man asks if he can be let off "in the spirit of Christmas" prompting a swift shake of the head from the PCSO filling in his notice.
Dave hears on his radio that a hooded teenager has ignored a warden's warning towards the castle end of the street. When he is stopped by Dave he claims: "I literally didn't hear anything. I just saw the lady smile at me."
As Dave explains that at each entry point there are "massive signs" another young man appears in the distance. He is doing wheelies until a woman prods his shoulder and points towards the officers. Before he can be stopped he U-turns and speeds away in the direction he came.
A homeless man, Leon Cameron, approaches and tells us he was hit at 10pm the previous night by a cyclist. Showing his grazed leg and elbow the 40-year-old says: "Night-time is the worst. They think it's deserted so they come flying down like it's a motorway. I was sleeping in a doorway. I stepped out for a pee and I got knocked down. It's good the police are taking action but they should do it at night as well."
The officers are not only looking out for bikes. Electric scooter rider Bobo Coboicu, 25, is halted and given a Section 59 notice rather than a fine. This means if he is caught using an e-scooter in public again in the next 12 months it will be seized and he could be charged with an offence.
Bobo insists he did not know it is illegal to ride e-scooters on public land in Wales. "This is my first time. I got the scooter one week ago for £200. Now that I know I will never drive here."
Asked if he knows of any private land where he can ride Bobo shakes his head and it seems to dawn on him that the scooter was a waste of money. "It is annoying. I don't know if I will sell it. I have family in Romania. Maybe I will send it to them."
Zak Villeneuve-Snell, 21, is riding his bike along Queen Street at the same slow pace his friend is walking next to him. The Office for National Statistics worker, on his way back from an economic forum, is handed a £50 fine. "There is no way around that?" he asks. The PCSO replies: "I wish there was."
Zak, who has lived in Cardiff for three months, says he was unaware of the ban. "I'm taken aback. I've not been going at more than three miles an hour. It makes sense to ride at walking pace rather than walk next to the bike, which is more of an obstruction."
As the officers speak to Zak they receive a radio warning on the imminent arrival of a cyclist who reportedly ignored a warden further up the street. But by the time a PCSO spots him he has already got off his bike. The young man claims his headphones prevented him hearing the warden – which the PCSO deems a "plausible explanation" – and he avoids a fine.
After watching this scene play out with interest Zak asks why the man was spared a penalty notice. The PCSO replies that he did not directly witness the bike being ridden. "Fair enough," says Zak.
Shortly afterwards an Uber Eats rider escapes with only a warning because he avoided being caught on police bodycam. Dave tells us: "He jumped off when he saw the police van."
When this session started there were Deliveroo, Just Eat, and Uber Eats cyclists showing up every few minutes but after a while they disappeared. Dave puts this down to warnings being shared in a rider WhatsApp group but he adds: "In half an hour they will forget."
One woman in her 20s seems close to tears as she is fined on her way to a job interview. She says she is already nine minutes late and she did not know about the ban. "I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to pay you on time. I have like no money."
A PCSO tells the woman there is information about her options on the penalty notice. The £50 fine, which goes to South Wales Police, rises to £75 if not paid within 28 days.
The ban not only covers Queen Street but also the routes running off it. After one cyclist receives a £50 fine he cycles off along Charles Street prompting a shake of the head from Dave. "He's breaking the byelaw again."
Another man gets off his bike before he reaches Queen Street but still gets a fine because he was spotted riding along Charles Street moments earlier. The rule, a PCSO explains to him, is active from the moment you pass the no-cycling sign. "But I come here every day," says the bemused cyclist.
Michael Ashton, 17, is handed a penalty notice after cycling slowly along Queen Street. His friend Stanley Byrne, who was walking alongside, says: "I think they should take you to a community centre and show you a film instead of getting their tickets out and slapping it straight on you... As long as people ride their bikes slowly and tidy and don't kill people then I think it's fine."
Michael is less talkative, accepting the police advice and penalty almost without a word. When we ask how he feels he replies serenely: "I'm alright." Later it becomes clear that Michael will not have to pay the fine because the minimum age you can receive it is 18.
The session finishes after 80 minutes with nine fines issued as well as the Section 59 e-scooter notice. Afterwards we ask a few Queen Street shoppers their thoughts on the crackdown. A cyclist swerves behind Christine Ivins, a care home worker from Leckwith, as she tells us: "It is a pedestrian precinct after all so bikes should be kept for the cycle lanes."
Her only complaint over the enforcement is that the fine is £50. "I think it should be much more. If you were driving a car through Queen Street how much would you be charged?"
Alison Owen-Jones, a retired lecturer at Cardiff and Vale College, agrees something needs to be done but feels the penalty may be too harsh on delivery workers. "I'm torn to be honest," says the 56-year-old from Roath. "I admit they frighten me because they're quiet and they come up behind you so quickly. They come so close and if you step into their line they are going to harm somebody like me or somebody older.
"However I know they are working for pence. They are doing miserable jobs and £50 would wipe out all their money for the day."
Two business students at the University of South Wales say they are glad to see the action. Alamin Islam, 26, tells us: "I think it's a big problem because there are so many passers-by on this street and everyone is riding – mostly people who know about [the ban] but don't follow the rules and regulations." His friend Mehadi Hasan, 25, adds: "Sometimes people don't understand. But when they don't care about restrictions I definitely would suggest that police take action because this high street is only for people movement, not for bikes or any vehicles."
But Ken Barker, a member of the Cardiff Cycling Campaign, believes cyclists can "usually mix safely with pedestrians" – especially outside the main retail trading hours. He said: "We acknowledge that the alternative northern route through Castle Street and Boulevard de Nantes, though longer, provides a preferred alternative route for many cyclists. An alternative southern route, along Bute Terrace, is heavily [congested]. Nor does it give good access to the retail and leisure areas in the city centre.
"We also comment that where cycling is permitted on The Hayes – and there are more cycling movements – there haven't been significant conflicts between pedestrians and cyclists and we would claim that there should be a consistent treatment of access in all vehicle-restricted areas. Most cyclists will not appreciate the reason for such a difference and the imposition of a penalty for sharing space on Queen Street."
WalesOnline approached delivery companies for comment on their riders breaking the byelaw. A spokeswoman for Deliveroo said it has spoken with riders about the breaches. She added: “The safety of our riders and other road users is a priority. When riders on-board with us they are required to complete a programme of road safety guidance and we regularly engage with riders about how to keep safe on the road and to remind them that they must follow the rules of the road at all times.”
A Just East spokeswoman said the company "expects all couriers delivering on behalf of Just Eat to follow road regulations". Uber Eats did not respond.
READ NEXT:
Mum stole £1.3million from small family business and bought expensive cars, clothing and holidays
Terrifying moment man crashes Audi into crowd of pub drinkers
Cardiff is a Wild West for e-scooters but there is a solution
Inspector used police computer system to help lover then forged notebook to try and get away with it
