CYCLISTS have hit out at the ‘draconian’ and ‘unfair’ fine handed out to a rider caught on Weymouth’s promenade.

Angela Stojkova is the first person to be prosecuted for Cycling along the Esplanade.

She has been ordered to pay a total of £115 after being stopped for the second time but cyclists see the measures as ‘over the top’.

“It’s absolutely horrendous,” said John Thraves, secretary of Dorset Cyclists Network.

Mr Thraves and fellow cyclists believe the prosecution by Weymouth and Portland Borough Council and the subsequent punishment dished out by magistrates will deter people from cycling.

He said: “It’s draconian measures by the borough council.

“If we want to promote cycling for all the right reasons in regards to health and the environment it’s wrong. I don’t approve of people breaking the law but it’s a quiet section of the seafront and they’ve gone too far.”

The council spent £657.37 on carrying out the prosecution.

Slovakian Miss Stojkova, a kitchen porter, was fined for riding along the promenade next to Greenhill Gardens but said as she did not understand English very well she did not realise it was against the law.

She was caught on the section that cyclists have been campaigning to be allowed on as they believe forcing riders to use the one-way system past St John’s Church puts riders off.

Ken Reed, of the Cyclist’s Touring Club and also the chairman of the Weymouth branch of the Dorset Cyclists Network, said: “Cycling groups have been campaigning for 10 years to allow cycling between the Sluice Gardens and Brunswick Terrace as it discourages inexperienced cyclists from riding into town from Preston.”

Mr Reed and his partner Anne Neale have been campaigning but believe they have hit problems trying to get the bylaw changed as it could affect trading laws on the beach.

He added: “This fine does not seem fair to her if she did not understand.

“I’ve just come back from a trip to the Balkans and where she is from you can cycle anywhere and nobody bats an eyelid.”

Miss Stojkova’s friend and neighbour David Leabourne, 60, said she was in tears when she received a letter about the prosecution.

He said: “The council sent her a warning letter after the first time but she did not receive it as it was sent to next door and this meant she did not understand it was illegal until it was too late.

“She would not have ridden on there again if she knew.”

Wayne Nicholas, owner of the Spindrift Bed and Breakfast at Brunswick Terrace, is among those supporting the council’s actions. He said: “There’s lots of elderly people and children on there. Somebody will get knocked down.”

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council states that the police and council staff saw the defendant cycling on the promenade again and explained she was breaking the law, to which she shrugged her shoulders.

Council management committee chairman Mike Goodman said: “The safety of local residents and visitors to our town is the borough council’s first priority.

“Bylaws making it an offence to cycle on the promenade have been in place since 1976. The promenade is a very busy pedestrian area and is narrow in places.

“The borough council and police patrol the area to make sure pedestrians can enjoy their stroll along the seafront in safety.

“The joint patrols have been taking place for many years and were introduced following complaints and growing safety concerns from the community and visitors about cyclists on the promenade.”

On Saturday, April 9 this year a 90-year-old resident was knocked down by a cyclist while walking along the promenade. He suffered a broken leg and had to undergo an operation.

£115 price of breaking bylaw

ANGELA Stojkova is the first person to be prosecuted for riding along Weymouth seafront.

She sent a letter to the hearing at Weymouth Magistrates Court and admitted unlawfully riding a bicycle on Weymouth Promenade on July 29.

Helen Gardner, prosecuting for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said their costs in investigating and prosecuting came to £657.37 and that the court could also fine Miss Stojkova up to £500.

Miss Gardner said the 28-year-old from Brownlow Street, Weymouth, shrugged her shoulders when she was stopped but she claimed she did this when she did not understand what was being said as she struggled with English.

Magistrates checked Miss Stojkova’s financial means before ordering her to pay £50 costs and a £50 fine as well as the £15 victim surcharge.