Queen's death: Council mocked for closing bike racks for 'period of mourning'
A council has been mocked online for closing bike racks in a city due to the period of Royal mourning.
Norwich City Council sparked criticism after it closed various bike racks following the death of the Queen on Thursday (8 September).
Signs initially gave no other explanation other than saying the racks would be closed from 9 September to 21 September, referring to a 'Royal period of mourning', and threatening to remove any bike found during that time.
But following posts on social media, it has since change the signs suggesting the reason was because people would be queuing to sign a local book of condolence.
Following the initial signs, Jeremy Hutchinson, 30, who was visiting Norwich for a wedding, tweeted: "Because of the royal period of mourning, you can’t lock your bike to a cycle rack in Norwich."
Read more: Queen's death: What do royal state funerals look like?
He added: "When I first took the photo I wasn't really aware of the reasoning behind it, so it definitely seemed like a very weird and very funny thing to stop people doing.
"Even with the explanation, it doesn't feel like it would be busy enough to justify removing it from action for 12 days, or that it would cause so much disruption if people did still use it.
"It feels like maybe the council were overthinking things. It certainly seems to have created a lot of heated debate."
The signs were later changed for new ones explaining that the racks were temporarily closed to make room for mourners laying flowers and queuing up to sign a book of condolences.
A spokesman for Norwich City Council said: "As part of our careful and respectful response to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II we have closed one cycle rack outside City Hall which is within the designated area where people can lay their floral tributes.
The spokesman added: "The sign is in place to help ensure the flowers that people have so carefully laid in place to pay tribute to the Queen aren’t damaged by people accessing their bicycles.
“Similarly, a second bike rack outside City Hall is also closed as this is in the area where people queue to sign the book of condolence to the Queen.
"All other cycle racks in the city remain open, including those just a few feet away from City Hall.
“To clear up any misunderstanding, we’ve replaced the signs with new ones to make things a little clearer.”
