A Dundee art student says she was “flabbergasted” to be ordered from the City Square as she sat eating her lunch because she had her bike with her.
Sophie D’Agostino, who is studying graphic design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, had propped her bike up out of the way behind the wooden bench she sat on while waiting for her boyfriend.
She says a council warden then came over and told her she wasn’t allowed to have her bike there and would have to leave.
Sophie (21) said, “I had cycled to uni and forgot my padlock so I phoned my boyfriend, who is at Abertay, to see if I could leave my bike on his lock.
“I was waiting for him to get back to me so went to the City Square and had lunch. The warden then came up and told me I had to go. I thought it was very odd. It was out of the way, between the stairs and the back of the bench.
“It was really heavy handed, although the guy wasn’t being horrible about it. I told him I was having my lunch and he asked how long I would be.
“I told him ten minutes and he said that was OK this time but I would have to go right after that. I looked round after ten minutes and he was standing right there watching me.
“When the government are trying to encourage people to cycle rather than use cars, it just struck me as being very bizarre.”
Earlier this year, city councillors backed an air quality action plan with a special emphasis on the city centre. It was said then that encouraging cycling could bring benefits.
And, as one of our Facebook followers kindly pointed out, even the lord provost himself risked a telling off by taking to a bike in the City Square last August to promote the Cyclathon.
A spokesman for the city council said it was looking into Sophie’s case.
“Dundee City Council encourages cycling as part of its sustainable transport initiatives. There is provision across the city centre for cyclists, including storage racks and safe and well signposted cycle ways.”