A local council is attempting to combat antisocial behaviour by biker gangs by banning the sale of cheese toasties.
Councillors in Bristol say they had been contacted by members of the public who were worried that a proposed hot food van in Monk’s Park, in the north of the city, would attract troublemakers back to the area.
Biking news website RideApart says that “young people riding motorcycles had been causing disturbances, getting drunk, and harassing innocent visitors to the park like in a bad biker gang movie”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This week, the city council’s public safety and protection committee heard dozens of objections from residents, a ward councillor and the headteacher of a nearby secondary school, who warned that the proposed food and drinks outlet could become “a magnet” for more antisocial behaviour, adds local news site Bristol Live.
Claire Hiscott, councillor for Bristol’s Horfield area, said the van’s proximity to the school was also a key factor in the decision, amid concerns that it could “lure” pupils into skiving off.
“It’s right next to Orchard School, which is a challenging school that sometimes has a problem with keeping kids in school,” she said.
“They have to have patrols of staff to make sure kids don’t walk off site. The lure of a food concession may encourage kids to take a little walk. The school has made a lot of effort to encourage healthy eating. We have problems with childhood obesity.”
The vendors of the food van “argued that it would be serving hot food, not low-quality fast food”, and “cheese toasties (grilled ham and cheese sandwiches) were cited as an example of the type of food it would sell, not the usual burgers and fries”, says RideApart.
Nevertheless, they have been banned from selling hot food, with the council granting a provisional licence to serve cold snacks only, along with tea and coffee, between the hours of 9am and 6pm.
-
5 hastily redrawn cartoons about redistrictingCartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's draughtsmanship, the White House ballroom, and more
-
Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremesTalking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
-
Crossword: August 9, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
-
Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
