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Trader uses horse and cart to avoid bus gate fine

Mariam Issimdar
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
John Ball Man wears a blue jumper stands alongside a horse and cart outside a shop front. the shop sells carpets. The horse is white and brown. A hand is stroking the horse's forelock. The cart is an open one and is painted red. John Ball
Carpet seller John Ball says he is using a horse and cart to avoid fines and traffic restrictions on Cambridge's Mill Road bridge

A trader has taken to using a horse and cart to avoid a longer journey and a fine after restrictions were introduced to a bridge.

John Ball, who runs a carpet shop in Cambridge, said a two-minute journey across the Mill Road bridge had become a longer 90-minute trip in the car after most vehicles were banned from using the crossing.

"The council is forcing us to revert back to the old ways from the 18th Century," he said.

Cambridgeshire County Council said it wanted the area to be "a more enjoyable, safer place to visit" and the travel restrictions via the bus gate would help achieve this.

Cambridgeshire County Council Mill Road bridge in Cambridge. Red road markings show it is a 20mph zone. Shops and cafes are on either side of the road. Cambridgeshire County Council
Most vehicles are now banned from using the bridge

"I can't take a delivery on a cycle, I will use my horse and cart to go over there because they can't fine my horse and cart," said Mr Ball.

"We've got to get our deliveries over the bridge and this is the only feasible way."

As a member of the Friends of the Mill Road Bridge 2 campaign group, Mr Ball was at the High Court last week challenging the council's traffic restriction order on the bridge, which started in March.

Buses, emergency services, taxis and blue badge holders' are among those who can still use the bridge.

"We need a solution. It's just devastating for businesses, on either side of the bridge," Mr Ball said.

"The solution is to open the bridge to all traffic, make the cyclists use the designated cycle bridge which is 100 meters down the track. Or make the cyclists dismount and walk over the bridge."

LDRS Image of Mill Road bridge, with a pedestrian walking across itLDRS
Pedestrians, taxis and cyclists are still allowed to cross the bridge at Mill Road
John Ball John Ball on a cart being pulled by a white and brown horse called Syble stop outside King's College in Cambridge. Two women sit on a wall nearby. John Ball
John Ball said his two-year-old horse Syble was "loving" her trips and shared the role with another horse called Olive

Alex Beckett, chairman of the highways and transport committee at Cambridgeshire County Council previously said: "Mill Road is the centre of a community. We want it to be a more enjoyable, safer place to visit and to encourage more people to come into the area.

"Reducing motorised through traffic and installing the bus gate will help achieve this.

"What's important is that we now move forward with developing plans for public realm improvements supporting local businesses and allowing Mill Road to thrive."

Since introducing the bus gate the council has issued on average 100 fines a day to drivers illegally using the bridge.

The High Court is expected to come back with its decision on the bridge appeal in a few weeks' time.

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