The radio crackles as a warning comes through. A cyclist has reportedly just sworn at council officers who had told him to get off his bike. As he rides towards the middle of Queen Street, his carefree expression creasing into a frown, he realises his mistake too late.
The young man, wearing a Zavetti Canada puffer jacket, suddenly finds himself facing two PCSOs (police community support officers) in the pedestrianised Cardiff shopping street where cycling has been banned for decades. There is an air of melancholy on this Wednesday lunchtime as a nearby busker plays Lou Reed's Perfect Day on an oboe. Cardiff council wardens are stationed at both ends of Queen Street while PCSOs wait near the centre to hand rule-breakers £50 fines. As this particular cyclist receives a fixed penalty notice he is challenged on his manners.
"You told my council colleagues to f*** off," says one of the PCSOs. The cyclist protests that he does not speak English but the officer replies: "Well you told them to f*** off. That's English."
