Not sure if this is still Cycling UK's official position but the CTC had this to say in section D,
https://www.iow.gov.uk/azservices/docum ... -on-FP.pdf
7
CTC CAMPAIGNS BRIEFING
Public Footpaths
www.ctc.org.uk/campaigns Briefing 5E (February 2014) 0844 736 8450
d. Pushing cycles on public footpaths
The following evidence supports the view that it is not illegal to push a cycle on a footpath:
Crank v Brooks 1980: In this case, a motorist was prosecuted for injuring a cyclist who was
pushing a cycle on a zebra crossing. In his judgment Lord Waller said “the fact that the injured
party had a bicycle in her hand did not mean that she was no longer a pedestrian”.
The Department for Transport: In a letter written in 1994, the DfT confirmed “...that a cyclist
pushing a bicycle on a pedestrian facility is regarded as a pedestrian”.13
Comment: a footpath is a pedestrian facility in the same way as a zebra crossing or footway, so it
seems reasonable to assume that the law does not differentiate between rural and urban use.
The Highway Code: The Code illustrates a prohibitive ‘no vehicles’ sign with
the words ‘no vehicles except cycles being pushed’ underneath to qualify the
message.14 The bicycle is defined in law as a vehicle, but the rationale behind
this sign suggests that cycles being pushed are to be regarded as exempt from
vehicular restrictions.
Alternative views:
Ramblers’/Open Spaces Society: A contrary view is taken by The Ramblers and the Open
Spaces Society, who in Rights of Way - a Guide to Law and Practice15 state, “It is submitted
that a bicycle is not a ‘natural accompaniment’ of a user of a footpath, and to push (or carry)
one along a footpath is therefore to commit a trespass against the landowner".
Comment: The term ‘natural accompaniment’, however, was derived from a comment made by a
judge in Scotland, but it had little legal impact even in Scotland. Further, the term has no basis in
English statute whatsoever, so can be safely regarded as an irrelevance.
Others have attempted to use s72 1835 Highways Act (+ s85 of the 1888 Local Government
Act16), which stated that it was an offence to “lead or drive” any animals, horse drawn carriage
(or bicycle) on any footpath alongside the road.
Comment: clearly “lead or drive” does not apply to pushing bicycles, although it could apply to a
ridden cycle. Moreover the inapplicability of this Act to footpaths (i.e. highways not adjacent to
roads), was confirmed in 2 cases:
I. R v Pratt (1867) in which the judgment stated that the Act ONLY applies to footways
alongside roads.
II. Selby v DPP (1994) where a judgment found that an alleyway joining two roads did not
constitute a footpath as defined by the 1835 Act.
It can therefore be assumed that the use of any public footpath in a field would receive a similar
verdict, and this is also the conclusion in An Introduction to Highway Law by Michael Orlik.17
CTC view: There is good evidence, although no direct case law, to support the view that
pushing a cycle on a footpath is not illegal. The presence of obstacles such as stiles should
not be considered a deterrent to a footpath’s use by cyclists