THE OWNER of the Camel Trail's longest-established cycle hire business has hit out at Cornwall Council after it threatened to remove his operating licence for not complying with a mobility scheme.
Nigel Wiggett of Bridge Bike Hire says the issue revolves around his refusal to accept mobility equipment from the council to aid cyclists with disabilities.
Mr Wiggett feels there is a safety issue with the equipment offered by the council, and says he already provides a better piece of equipment for wheelchair-bound cyclists. His was the first bike hire business to be established on the Camel Trail in 1983, when he started with just six bikes.
Mr Wiggett said: "You would think after 30 years' trading, during which time our business has built up a national profile, that we would have a good working relationship with officers and the council, but that is not the case.
"We refused to join a (council) special needs scheme having been offered a piece of equipment we deemed unsafe.
"After various efforts to exchange the unit, we met with officers to discuss a way forward. We were told that if we did not join the scheme, this would be taken into account when our licences came up for renewal, which was also repeated verbally to my wife.''
He said mobility aid offered was not suitable for his business and could be dangerous to users along the trail.
"It may be a good product in itself, but not for our business, because people have to get used to it first, and if we simply hired it out to people, I can see accidents happening, and they could even end up in the estuary,'' he said.
"We have always provided specialist equipment to help disabled people along the trail, with our latest costing £3,500, which is far more suitable than what the council wanted us to use.''
A spokesperson for the council said it was working to provide new equipment to support disabled people, as part of its Aiming Higher project.
"Under the terms of the licence agreement bike hire operators are required to offer equipment to help disabled people to enjoy the trail.
"Officers identified an accessible bike which they were hoping to make available on the trail. However the owner of the Bridge Bike Hire preferred to use an alternative model. As Bridge Bike Hire supply their own disabled bikes they are meeting the requirements of their licence agreement,'' she said.
