CYCLISTS could be fined £100 for riding in pedestrianised areas in Worcester city centre.

Councillors discussed applying the Public Space Prevention Order (PSPO) to the city centre to tackle feeding gulls and other birds, urinating in the street, riding bikes and aggressive begging at a communities committee meeting on October 30.

The councillors were asked to approve a four-week public consultation on the proposal to implement a draft PSPO to the city centre after an earlier consultation which ran in March and April this year, attracting more than 1,000 replies.

The committee raised concerns over the wording of some of the elements to form the PSPO such as the issue of ‘dangerous’ cycling, and how the order would be enforced.

Cllr Louise Griffiths said: “How are we going to actually enforce this? We have had problems with dog poo and not enforced it.

“As far as cycling on the pavement goes, it is already illegal, so how are we going to enforce it?”

With regards to the issue of aggressive begging, Mel Kirk from Maggs Day Centre addressed the committee, saying that they supported the order.

She said: “We are fully supportive of this in relation to aggressive begging.

“It is important to outline the differences: a rough sleeper is someone who sleeps in the street, whereas a homeless person could live in a hostel and a beggar is not necessarily in either category.

“Most beggars are not aggressive, so this order is only going to affect a small minority of beggars.

“We are fully supportive of this order because it adds extra layers to the process before arrest and going into the criminal procedure.

“We welcome this because we deal with lots of individuals who will not engage with us, so this order will compel people to work with us.”

The report also contained suggestions for enforcing laws on psychoactive substances and legal highs.

Some members of the committee admitted they had not seen the report prior to the meeting, and the committee agreed that there were too many issues with the wording and enforcement of the order for approval to be granted that night.

They agreed to bring it back to the table again in January when more of the members had had time to fully read the report and work out the best wording and categories for the order.

READ MORE: £100 fines for feeding gulls and skateboarding in Worcester City Centre