Hedge cutting in Hardwick Lane © Michael Trolove

“How can a person encourage or force a landowner to meet their legal obligation to clear up hedge debris from public roads?” Robin Sheppard, Cowbridge, South Glamorgan”

The legal obligation on landowners to clear up hedges can be found in section 154 of the Highways Act 1980. As an aside, all references below to hedges also apply in relation to trees and shrubs. Where a hedge overhangs a highway or any other road to which the public has access to so as to: ‘endanger or obstruct the passage of vehicles or pedestrians’, or ‘obstruct or interfere with the view of drivers of vehicles or the light from a public lamp’, or ‘overhangs a highway so as to endanger or obstruct the passage of horse riders’, the local council may, by notice either to the owner of the hedge or to the occupier of the land on which it is growing, require him to within 14 days from the date of service of the notice to cut it so as to remove the cause of the danger, obstruction or interference.

A person aggrieved by any such requirement may appeal to a Magistrates court. Subject to any appeal, if a person on whom a notice is served fails to comply with it within the specified period the council may carry out the work required by the notice and recover the expenses reasonably incurred in so doing from the person in default.

If an ordinary member of the public wishes to make a complaint to the council in order to enforce the obligations of the landowner under the Highways Act 1980, then that person simply needs to call the council to register the complaint.The council will then send a Street Enforcement Officer who will serve the notice on the landowner.

Where the landowner fails to clear up hedge debris from a public road, an aggrieved person may be able to bring a claim for public nuisance. A nuisance can generally be defined as an act or omission which endangers the life, health or property of the public. The nuisance must materially affect a class of people who come within the sphere of the nuisance. It is not necessary to prove that every member of the class has been injured or affected. It is only a civil wrong and actionable as such when a private individual has suffered particular damage over and above the general inconvenience and injury suffered by the public. For example, a punctured tyre caused by the debris.

These days environmental legislation has made this remedy probably less useful than it once was. It does remain useful however where the injured party requires compensatory damages or where the public agency is not prepared to take action. However, enforcement of duties under legislative provisions is for the most part the concern of local authorities and other public agencies. In which case, if a landowner has neglected his duties and failed to clear up debris from his hedge, the first port of call should be the local council who will send round a Street Enforcement Officer who will serve notice on the landowner.

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A to B 49 – Aug 2005

The road from A to B can be strewn with legal hurdles. Send your queries to Russell Jones & Walker, Solicitors, c/o A to B magazine

“I regularly travel overseas with a Brompton, checking the bike into the hold, but I was disturbed to find that Ryanair is now demanding payment of E25 for a fully-folded Brompton. The charge, brought in on 14th February, is described as a ‘sporting equipment’ fee. Surely if the luggage is within the weight limit and does not contain any dangerous items, the contents are your affair?” John Wilcox, Derby (our thanks to the many others who have written).

I’m afraid that the answer is not necessarily going to be one you will want to hear. It is up to the airlines what they allow onto their planes at the end of the day, but there is an expectation that they will allow reasonable luggage within their stated size/weight allowances. It is reasonable to refuse to carry luggage in order to comply with law, or if it would affect the health and safety or comfort of other passengers or crew. It is also reasonable to refuse luggage which is unsuitably packed, fragile, or contains perishables.

Most airlines permit hand luggage conforming to International Air Transport Association guideline dimensions: length 56cm, width 45cm and depth 25cm (but the sum of all three dimensions not to exceed 115cm).There is also a 5kg weight limit. Even the Brompton folding bicycle (height 56.5cm, length 54.5cm, width 25cm) is just outside the guideline dimensions, but with the lightest model weighing 11.35kg, there is an automatic excuse for every airline to refuse it as hand luggage.

Checking it into the hold is another option, but still not guaranteed.These excuses might sound feeble, but if ground staff are determined to refuse you, these are tried and tested winners: ‘It can’t travel on the conveyor belt like an ordinary suitcase/rucksack’, ‘There is a risk that staff might damage their backs handling it’, and so on.

As for Ryanair’s ‘sporting equipment’ supplement to store folding bikes in the hold, the Air Transport Users Council (who run an advice line for air passengers) have confirmed that they are entitled to charge, on the basis that since a folding bike is different to a suitcase or rucksack, it will require special handling during storing and transporting. However, they did point out that it was unusual to charge such a supplement, and more likely to occur on a charter flight. Most other leading airlines would not charge a supplement if the bike was within the overall weight allowance.

On a more positive note, my research produced accounts of people taking their folding bikes on planes with no such problems, including the marketing director of Brompton, and Simon Calder, travel correspondent for The Independent, who termed his Brompton ‘without a doubt, the best travel accessory of them all’.

The best advice is really to check-in early, before storage space becomes an issue, and to wear your brightest smiles for the ground staff.With enough charm and finesse, you might even wangle an upgrade! [See also Letters, page 11. Eds]

Your legal enquiries are answered by Russell Jones & Walker, Solicitors – the best national firm servicing the needs of individual people, with branches in London, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield, Cardiff and Bristol. For further information call Jeremy Clarke-Williams on 020 7837 2808

The Aphid Spingo, good concept but is it legal?

I’m now worried by reports in the media that the courts are treating these machines as small motorcycles and putting points on the driving licenses of un-insured, un-taxed, un-helmeted users. Are they legal on the road, on the pavement – or as one shop told me – on cycle paths?”

David Johnson Truro, Cornwall

It is hardly surprising that there is such confusion, since the legal position certainly requires considerable clarification. Unfortunately, the current situation is far from satisfactory.

In a High Court case (CC N Yorks v Saddington, Oct 2000), a Go-Ped petrol-driven micro-scooter was found to come within the definition of a motor vehicle under Section 185 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.This means that their use is governed by the same legislation that applies to motorcycles and mopeds, since there is no criteria for minimum power or speed output.

Since then, the Vehicle Certification Agency, responsible for approving new vehicles, has considered that electric micro-scooters are also covered by the ruling, since they are no less ‘mechanically propelled vehicles intended or adapted for use on roads’.This was more recently confirmed in a subsequent High Court case (Letitia Water v DPP, July 2002) involving a City Bug electric model.

They are therefore deemed to be mopeds in the eyes of the law, since mopeds are the lowest powered two-wheel vehicles. However, this means they must meet the standards required for a moped to be used on the road.This will include the requirements for mirrors and lights, under the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986 and the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989. It is therefore illegal to ride a typical fun electric micro-scooter on the road.

It is also illegal to use them on cycle paths and pavements, where mopeds are not permitted.This leads to the ridiculous situation that the only legal place to ride an electric scooter is on private property.

“…riders potentially face a £1,000 fine and 6-8 points on their driving licence…”

However, any vehicle approved under European Community Whole Type Approval can be legally used on the roads.To date only one model, the German Charly MZ, has obtained EC approval, and this can, therefore, be legally registered as a moped, and used on the roads in the UK.

In fact, trendy urban types and youngsters alike are committing a whole raft of offences when you see them scooting around in a pair of shorts in the street. All the requirements for riding a moped must be met, including a licence, registration, insurance, a tax disc, and even an MOT after three years. A crash helmet must also be worn. Chris Eubank discovered this to his cost, when he was charged for scootering round Brighton without a helmet. He received a conditional discharge and had to pay £35 in costs.

Toy manufacturers have advertised the scooters as legal provided they are only ridden by children over 14, relying on electric bike legislation, but it is clear that the Department for Transport sees things differently.

Provisions in the Transport Act 1981 state that an electric bicycle avoids being classed as a motorcycle if it weighs less than 40kg, is fitted with pedals, has a maximum power output of 200 watts and cannot be propelled at more than 15 miles per hour. But in the City Bug case, the judge ruled that the scooter was not, ‘fitted with pedals by means of which it is capable of being propelled’, and therefore the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle Regulations 1983 would not apply.

This is clearly a grey area in the law, with many micro-scooter riders not unreasonably feeling that they are being arbitrarily restricted from engaging in harmless fun, or from adopting an environmentally-friendly transport solution.The Department for Transport has confirmed that there are no proposals to create a new category for scooters, or to adapt the electric cycle category to include them.

A further complication is that, despite defining micro-scooters as motor vehicles, the judges have so far refrained from actually categorising them, on the basis that this fell to the Department for Transport.This has made it impossible to obtain insurance since insurance companies are understandably reluctant to provide cover for vehicles which cannot comply with requirements.

As far as enforcement goes, this is obviously a matter for police forces to consider in the light of local circumstances, but warnings have been issued in a number of regions. While we often hear that ignorance of the law is no defence, it may be that in some cases ignorance really is bliss, since the police attitude has, by and large, been merely to warn riders genuinely unaware that their scooters are classified as mopeds.

But be warned! Driving without insurance is a Level Five offence, and riders potentially face a £1,000 fine and 6-8 points on their licence, if they have one. New legislation means that youngsters who have not yet qualified for a full driving licence will have these penalty points added to any future licence. And yes, police have confirmed that children will lose their licence when they’re old enough to hold one.

And that’s not all, people have been picked up for driving whilst disqualified and even drink driving, so riding one of the petrol-powered machines home from the pub could cost you your licence! The situation with electric scooters is more confused. According to The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, at least one rider has been let off with a caution by the police, who concluded that the vehicle was covered by the same archaic catch-all law that applies to cyclists: ‘people who were very unsteady on pedal cycles, vehicles propelled by foot and steam-propelled vehicles’.The Department for Transport is unable to conclude definitely, since the issue has not yet been tested in the courts, but the view is that since the scooters can be classed as mopeds, it would be inconsistent if the same drink/drive legislation did not apply. So on top of everything else, make sure you stay off the liqueur chocolates before considering a scoot.

Your legal enquiries are answered by Russell Jones & Walker, Solicitors – the best national firm servicing the needs of individual people, with branches in London, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sheffield, Cardiff and Bristol. For further information call Jeremy Clarke-Williams on 020 7837 2808