No annoying skateboarders, horses, dog poo (or javelins) on our village green: Council clamps down on mischief-makers causing trouble on idyllic cricket pitch by updating historic laws and hiking £2 fine to £500

• Have YOU seen vandalism on Bradenham’s village green? Email [email protected] 

A village green’s bylaws have been updated for the first time in 57 years because the £2 fine for transgressions wasn’t enough to deter vandals and troublemakers.

The eight-acre field in Bradenham, Norfolk, introduced the penalty in 1966, when England won the World Cup, the Beatles released Revolver, and London was officially declared the ‘Swinging City’ in a Time magazine cover.

But the fine – equivalent to £32 today – was being ignored by joyriders who churn up the village cricket pitch twice a year on average and youths causing a nuisance late at night.

Instead, the parish council decided to apply to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to change the amount to £500 – and bring the bylaws up to date.

It means quaint rules have now been ditched, including a ban on ‘beating, sweeping or brushing a carpet’, ‘hanging linen or any fabric for drying’ and ‘driving a bicycle, tricycle, wheelchair, perambulator or chaise [open, two-wheeled carriage] drawn by horses’ unless ‘for the conveyance of a child or invalid’.

Have YOU seen vandalism on Bradenham’s village green? Email [email protected] 

A Norfolk village green’s bylaws have been updated for the first time in 57 years because the £2 fine for transgressions wasn’t enough to deter vandals and troublemakers

Modern menaces banned under the new rules include any ‘motorcycle, motor scooter, Segway (or similar vehicle), motor vehicle or trailer’.

Skateboarders and roller skaters will contravene the bylaws if they cause ‘danger, damage or annoyance’.

Cricket can still be played – but only in the designated area – and anyone throwing a discus or javelin, flying a drone or model aircraft, or landing a hang glider or hot air balloon on the green could also be slapped with a fine.

Musicians may also be ordered to move on by an officer of the council or a police officer if considered to be making a racket.

Chris Allhusen, chairman of the parish council and a local blackcurrant farmer, said: ‘We’re not aiming this at anyone in particular but we’ve got a lovely village green and we do get a little bit of anti-social behaviour, so we wanted something with a little teeth.

‘We get occasional joyriders, normally on a Saturday night, tearing across the green, which is used by Bradenham Cricket Club.

‘We have put new [CCTV] cameras in but we couldn’t do anything really as it’s private property.

The old fine was being ignored by joyriders who churn up the village cricket pitch twice a year on average and youths causing a nuisance late at night

‘People also make a nuisance late at night and we’ve had people practising golf, which is just dangerous.’

The pretty village, which has a population of around 700, is home to Grade I-listed St Mary’s Church, which dates back to the 14th century, and Bradenham Hall, where Victorian adventure author Rider Haggard was born.

The village green has been used for generations, with a May fete running for over 100 years, an annual vintage car, military vehicle and tractor display, and a cricket pavilion serving teas to players.

There is also a playground and exercise equipment near the village hall, which was a school until the 1950s.

The process to update the bylaws was started in 2019 but was completed only recently due to delays caused by the pandemic and the slow response time of the government department, which could ‘take six to eight months to reply to a letter, sometimes just to change one word’.

Cricket club chairman Tim Evans said: ‘Anything that acts as a deterrent and puts people off from damaging the green is good for us.’

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