Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

St Andrews cycling saga continues as signs removed by council replaced with “burglar proof screws”

David Middleton of Lade Braes Walk in St Andrews next to one of his signs.
David Middleton of Lade Braes Walk in St Andrews next to one of his signs.

A St Andrews resident claims Fife Council has broken the law by taking down “no cycling” signs from outside his property.

The council maintains cycling is permitted outside David Middleton’s home in Lade Braes.

But after staff took down signs, which Mr Middleton had nailed in place himself, he put more back up using burglar proof screws.

“The only people who have committed an offence are the council, not me,” he said.

“The council stole the signs from me when they didn’t have any authority to take them away.”

In an email seen by The Courier, Mr Middleton was told in November that the footpath outside his home was covered by the section of the Highway Code prohibiting cycling on pavements.

He is now calling for the council to explain the u-turn.

And he has asked for a safety assessment to be carried out after claiming an elderly neighbour was lucky to escape injury after being hit by a cyclist.

“There’s no logic in the council’s approach,” he said.

“I’ve asked if they would let me have the legislative reference for the view that cycling is allowed on Lade Braes, because I’m quite happy to listen to that.

“But I’m not going to take it on trust.

“The only difference with the new signs is they’ve been put up with burglar proof screws.”

Mr Middleton added that he did not want a confrontation and was keen to discuss the matter with the local authority.

“I’ve been doing my best to engage with the council and so far they have not engaged,” he said.

Kevin Smith, who manages the roads network in north east Fife, confirmed that the council believed the signs should not be there.

He said: “We’re currently looking into this matter and are trying to resolve it with the resident who has put these signs up on his own property.

“The signs are incorrect. Cycling is not forbidden on Lade Braes.

“However, I’d like to remind cyclists using Lade Braes to ride responsibly; be mindful of others and slow down where you’re approaching a gate or can’t see ‘round a corner.”

It is the latest instalment in a long running saga over cycling in Lade Braes.

In December 2007, a sub group of Fife Access Forum decided that Lade Braes should not be included in the draft core paths plan because of the strength of local feeling.