We're a little behind the times with this story because we wanted to see how it panned out before we jumped. Now we know, so here it is.

There is a large area of pavement in Islington, alongside an extremely busy piece of road. Ever since I can remember, bikes have parked alongside the railing furthest away from the road. Nobody has ever complained, and although a great many bikes were parked most days there was plenty of room for pedestrians.

Then the London Borough of Islington suddenly twigged that with the advent of Congestion Charging there would be more bikes there. So under the premise that they had "suddenly realised" that these bikes were parked illegally, they swooped and ticketed the lot.

No warning, no consultation, no appeal.

When asked for comment, the council had this to say:

"This stretch of pavement has never been zoned for parking but has been used informally by motorcyclists for many years. However, it is a footway and contributes a space in an area of the city which has very little open space."

"We have done some environmental improvements - including tree planting and seating."

"Following clarification of this area as designated public highway (rather than private property) we were able to start prompt enforcement. We had a few complaints that bikers didn't have enough prior warning so as a goodwill gesture we have decided to waive any tickets issued on this stretch of pavement over 6-7 February."

While we applaud the fact that the tickets have been cancelled, we have to question their being issued in the first place. It is also worth noting that until sufficient momentum had built up, they were not prepared to even consider appeals, using the blanket argument that the bikes were parked on the pavement, which is an offence. The suggestion that this is an open space any more than any other piece of pavement can be considered such is also one worthy of sceptical examination, I suspect. And the implication is that the environmental improvements have been done recently. Look at the pictures and see what you think.

Finally, what is the point of putting seating here? There is nothing around other than an extremely busy road. Who would want to sit and have their break amidst the bus exhaust fumes?