Granny told to stop bothering bikers

**Radar** Sat Oct 02 2010, 20:22

From my local paper this week:

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AN 84-year-old great grandmother has been threatened with arrest if she does not stop harassing bikers at a Bewdley café.

Pat Jones began her long-running campaign over access to Severn Side North when businesses along the road applied for licences to put tables and chairs on the pavement outside their premises as a result of the 2007 smoking ban She said: “The trouble started when the smoking ban came into force.

“The licences were granted and everyone was happy with the situation, until it was realised that all the pedestrians, visitors and a large number of people from the caravan park higher up the river had all got to walk in the single-width road.”

She said she had measured the space for passers-by at just 22 inches.

Mrs Jones also took issue with bikers who used the tables and chairs outside the Riverside Café in Severn Side North. She approached them directly, claiming their motorcycles were parked on private land, underneath windows and the sound of their engines was frightening elderly residents. She also took down their registration numbers.

She said: “I started speaking to the bikers myself, asking them if they would drive round the main road to the free car park specially provided for motorbikes, with even a CCTV camera overlooking it. ”

She said Wyre Forest District Council should consider an access-only sign at the entrance to the road. She insisted she was not calling for the licences for tables and chairs to be revoked.

Owner of the Riverside Café, Chris Brennan, who declined to comment, contacted the police, who presented Mrs Jones with a letter that stated: “It is simply a warning that your conduct amounted to the unlawful and unacceptable harassment of another. This will be your only warning; should this conduct continue you will be liable to arrest and prosecution.”

The notice, issued under The Protection from Harassment Act, 1997, states that Mrs Jones “pursued a course of conduct, namely verbally harassing and upsetting customers and staff at the Riverside Café, which amounts to the harassment of another, namely Christopher Brennan.”

She said: “It was a shock to me. I am 84, I have never been in trouble with the police before. I told the police the details are not correct. I was trying to save his business, not cut it.”

Wyre Forest District Insp Paul Crowley, said: “Harassment may cause immense distress and is taken extremely seriously by West Mercia Police. People can be arrested for this offence but there are occasions when officers have discretion to issue a written warning first, giving the individual the opportunity to amend their behaviour. If the warning is not heeded and the behaviour continues, it will result in arrest.”

Mrs Jones was unhappy with the way police dealt with the situation and contacted the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which dismissed her complaint.

Source:http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/8422069.Gran_told__Don___t_bother_the_bikers/?ref=mr

The paper has requested readers to submit their opinions and support/opposition to mrs Jones. This was my response:

I read the front page article from the latest edition of the Shuttle with great interest. I was pleased to note that the Police had warned Mrs Jones for harassing motorcyclists trying to enjoy a visit to Bewdley. As a motorcyclist and a local resident myself I have become increasingly frustrated by the way as group we have been continually maligned and accused by a tiny minority of people. The regular accusations of selfish behaviour are to put it simply, not true. I have lived in the area since 1992 and have regularly visited the Bewdley riverside over the last 18 years, both on my motorcycle and with my family. I can honestly say in that time all the motorcyclists I have observed have behaved impeccably. When leaving the riverside I am yet to see a bike being revved excessively, ridden aggressively or selfishly. If this kind of antics was going on the Police would have cracked down by now, and rightly so. But this has never been necessary to my knowledge, which I think speaks for itself.
I think it a great shame that bikers can no longer park along the riverside, as I think it adds to the atmosphere of Bewdley, rather than detracting from it. In fact when the bikes were allow to park there and people were eating and drinking alfresco it lent the area a certain continental feel. The bikers and other visitors mingled well and it was not usual to see people of all ages and backgrounds admiring the bikes and talking with their owners. I have enclosed some pictures I took a few years ago to further illustrate my point. It strikes me that in these difficult times that Bewdley should be welcoming visitors, spending money with a number of local traders rather than trying to make life difficult for them.

One of the pics I submitted:

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