London pedicabs: Operators hit with £5k fines and court bills

Five pedicab operators have been hit with a bill of over £5,000 for a series of nuisance offences in central London.

Westminster City Council says it is the largest set of fines issued under the Control of Pollution Act, 1974.

In the past year the council says over 50 pedicab drivers have been reported for prosecutions as the authority continues its crackdown.

Councillor Aicha Less described the pedicabs as "an unlicensed nuisance".

She said drivers had been pulled up for regularly blocking pavements, playing loud music, and charging "extortionate fares".

"We want people visiting the West End to have fun and to be safe," Ms Less added.

"The council will continue to work with the police to take action against antisocial pedicab drivers."

In this latest round of prosecutions, the council said fines, costs and victim surcharges ranged from between £684 and £2,019 for the five individuals, with a total of £5,682 in fines handed down.

Council inspectors, alongside the Met Police, have moved on hundreds of drivers for creating serious accessibility issues by blocking the pavements in the Covent Garden, Soho, Leicester Square, Chinatown and Mayfair areas.

One pedicab driver was caught on consecutive operations in the West End playing excessively loud music from a loudspeaker.

This driver was fined almost twice as much as the others to reflect the fact they were a repeat offender.

Additionally, one individual who was fined £1,018 for playing loud music causing an annoyance was the same rider who charged two individuals £180 for a three-minute ride back in February 2022.

So far this year, seven prosecutions by Westminster City Council have been listed against pedicab operators.

Five have been successful and a result for the other two is set for next month, the council added.