Doug writes:

On 20 Sep, 15:47, Paul Weaver wrote:
I'm not sure what event I was held up by on Friday, however a bunch of
hooligan criminals were causing major delays for both cyclists and
public transport users by blockading the west end on roller skates,
with accompanying "music" blaring out at unsafe levels.

Police were nowhere to be seen. A tripwire across the road would be an
appropriate response.

I think they hold their roller skating events every Friday. They have,
of course, as much right to use a public road as you and perhaps that
is why the police were not interested.

Doesn't sound much like the regular street skate to me, from the
description. The Police know all about it and are informed of the
proposed route each week in advance. They have at times asked for
alterations, which the skaters are happy to make, but usually they have
no problem. The skate is explicitly non-political, the marshals are
selected and trained to avoid the issues of "have-a-go corkers" with
grudges, and they make all efforts to avoid causing unnecessary
congestion or delaying anyone else for longer than needed to get past.
No stopping in the middle of the road, no bike lifts (skate lifts?), and
no "three times around parliament square at walking pace". Also, unless
last Friday's event was unprecedentedly huge (and I mean, ten times the
normal size) then it is rare for any delays to other road users to
exceed a couple of minutes and usually much less than that.

Paul, when and where did you meet them? What happened? How long were
you held up for?


-dan