Get off your bikes '“ or else!

The notice is one of two placed by the police at both ends of the London Road precinct in response to public concerns about pavement cyclists.

Another two are used at different locations in the surrounding parishes.

The signs' arrival has come as the hotspots of every community policing concern between Elmer to Pagham are revealed by the police.

Motoring and cycling dominate the list along roads from east to west.

The need to tackle those who ride illegally on two wheels has long been contentious around the shopping centre.

PC Mark Linberry, one of those who patrol the area, said the sign recognised those concerns.

"The signs are there because one of the main concerns that gets raised to us by the community is cycling through pedestrianised areas.

"There are a lot of children around and they don't expect to have people riding past them.

"When the signs are out, it means we are specifically looking for cyclists riding where they shouldn't.

"Any we catch will be given a 30 fixed penalty notice if they are over-16 and a stop notice if they are younger.

"Receive two stop notices in a year and they will be taken to court."

As many as 30-plus cyclists of all ages can be stopped around the town centre in a day.

PC Linberry is among 21 officers based at Bognor police station devoted to community policing. They are a mixture of police community support

officers and neighbourhood PCs. They are led by Sergeant Craig Wilkie at the station.

The team members cover the urban area from Elmer to Pagham and inland to North Bersted.

Also part of the town-centre team are PCSOs Kayleigh Foster and Gemma Turner.

PCSO Turner said: "We work together with the PCs. Our role is to be highly visible as a modern 'bobby on the beat'. We are the main foot patrols.

"It can be frustrating not having all the powers the police have, but the PCs and sergeants are never far away."

PCSO Foster said: "We are the link between the police and the community. We tell them the concerns that are reported to us and they carry out the enforcement."

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