TWO hundred and sixty-seven cyclists in Oxford have been handed fines by police for not having lights on their bikes.

Thames Valley Police roads policing department carried out the checks on Monday between 6pm and 9pm in High Street and Abingdon Road.

Cyclists without lights were handed a £50 fixed penalty notice, which they can avoid paying if they buy a set of front and rear lights and present the receipt at any police station within seven days of being fined.

The receipt must prove they bought the lights after the offence.

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The checks follow an Oxford Mail survey on Thursday which found more than half of riders in the city did not have front and rear lights.

During the hours of darkness cyclists must have white front and red rear lights as well as a red rear reflector and amber pedal reflectors if the bike was manufactured after October 1, 1985.

Road safety constable Pc Mark Piling said: “This campaign is aimed at educating cyclists about how important it is that they are fully visible to all other road users.

“Just because a cyclist can see where they are going on a well-lit street does not necessarily mean that they are fully visible to motorists approaching with their headlights on.

“We stopped a significant number of cyclists so I would encourage others to get lights for their safety and to avoid any fines.

“We will be carrying out further checks during the coming months.”

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