A story accusing cyclists of flouting a city centre ban on the Hull Daily Mail front page has been taken down from the title’s website after readers pointed out the rules changed more than a year ago.
The front page, published last month, pictured bike readers with their faces blurred above the headline: “On your bike: 55 cyclists spotted on pavement in just one hour.”
Readers complained that the story, which reported that cyclists were caught riding through a “pedestrians only” area, was inaccurate as it became a “pedestrian and cycle zone” in 2017.
The article appeared on the Hull Live website on 29 June under the headline: “The number of cyclists we caught breaking the law in one hour in Hull city centre” but has since been deleted.
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Shame they ran it as front page pic.twitter.com/KcSlX9kPnu
— James (@jameshullfc) June 29, 2019
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It can still be read in full on web archive Wayback Machine, as first reported by cycling news website Road.cc.
The article said: “It’s an area for pedestrians only but regardless of the rules, cyclists can often be seen whizzing past walkers, wheelchair users, mobility scooters and prams in Hull city centre.
“And in just one hour on Friday afternoon, we spotted an incredible 55 people breaking the rules by riding their bikes through the pedestrianised area near Albion Square (the junction of Jameson Street and King Edward Street).”
It later reported that there was “not a sign explicitly banning cyclists in the area but it is not allowed in this part of the city centre”.
But Hull City Council published a blog on 1 July that said: “As part of the city centre’s Public Realm improvements in 2017 several areas, including parts of Prospect Street, King Edward Street, Jameson Street, Whitefriargate, Princes Dock Street, Humber Street and Humber Dock Street, were turned into pedestrian and cycle zones.”
A picture posted by Twitter user Michelle Coldham also shows a sign in the relevant area, on the Chapel Street entrance onto Jameson Street, saying the area is a pedestrian and cycle zone.
Although a travel map of Hull city centre on the council website still shows the Jameson Street area to be off-limits for cyclists between 11am and 4pm, the council confirmed to Press Gazette this is outdated and that it is in the process of taking it down.
A spokesperson confirmed cyclists are able to use the pavements mentioned in the article.
Press regulator the Independent Press Standards Organisation has received one complaint about the article under its accuracy rules.
Reach, which publishes the Hull Daily Mail, said it had no comment for this story.
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