A SHOCKING image shows a line of parked cars managing to block a cycle lane and the pavement in a busy London street.
Whitehorse Lane in Croydon, London, is part of an old cycle route called LCN23, with a cycle lane down one side.
However, Angus Hewlett noticed the bike lane was taken up by parked cars and took a disapproving photo last Wednesday.
The image shows the bike lane blocked by at least seven cars, with most of them also halfway across the pavement next to it.
On the other side of the road, four cars are parked on a single yellow line and across more than half of the pavement.
Angus tweeted the image last Wednesday with the caption: “Believe it or not, that’s a cycle lane.”
The tweet now has over 4700 likes, with over 300 people commenting on the poor parking of the drivers.
@AndrewB17257442 said: “Why are walkers only allowed a tiny space while the cars get all the road , the cycle lane and half the pavement?!”
@PeaseRoland commented: “Pretty dreadful for pedestrians either side too.”
@SilvertownTn replied: “How is that pavement parking not illegal?”
@antsty added: “How are you meant to get a pram or wheelchair down the pavement with all those cars parked there?”
Speaking today (WED), Angus said: “It’s a 30mph road in a fairly suburban part of London, very narrow as you can see with trucks and buses.
“Typically you get a few toughened “roadies” cycling on the carriageway, and late teens and young adults on the pavement.
“I live locally and am familiar with how crap this road is to cycle on.
“I cycle to get to work most of the time (otherwise walk or bus) but it’s barely three miles, hardly the Tour de France!
“I am however very keen on safer streets for cycling, and on lots more people using bikes and scooters for short, easy trips.
“I rather wish we could get out of the mindset where people become ‘driver’ versus ‘cyclist’ about it and just encourage people to use the lightest and lowest impact tool that’ll get the job done, and get councils to build the infrastructure to enable that.
“What the drivers are doing is 100% legal, probably what you might call a necessary evil.
“The council needs to abandon its pretence of providing cycle facilities on this road, when it’s obviously not practical to do so.
“As far as this specific road goes, it’d be nice to get some pavement back for pedestrians and especially buggy and wheelchair users – perhaps restrict parking to one side of the road for example.”
