Two Worcester footpaths shut to everyone since 4 September. Using either crossing is now an offence with a £100 fine, and challenges close 29 September.
Two public footpaths in Worcester have been closed to everyone, and using either of them is now a criminal offence. The orders took effect on 4 September 2026 and run for two years.
They cover Footpath WR-858, known as Brickfields Crossing, and Footpath WR-678, known as Kays Crossing. Both carry a public right of way over a railway line. Both orders restrict that right of way “at all times to all persons”. (Worcester City Council (Footpath WR-858) Public Spaces Protection Order 2026, sealed 18 August 2026)
The council advertised them in a statutory notice on 21 August, in the Worcester Observer. (Notice of making of Public Spaces Protection Orders, Worcester City Council)
Where they are, and how to get round
Brickfields Crossing (WR-858) links Brickfields Park to Astwood Road, on the line north east of the city between Rainbow Hill and Tolladine.
Kays Crossing (WR-678) links Bromyard Road to Laugherne Brook Nature Reserve, in St John’s, between Dines Green and St John’s Cemetery.
The orders name the alternative routes:
- for Brickfields, along Astwood Road and Brickfields Road and onto King George V Playing Fields, and the same in reverse
- for Kays, along Footpaths WR-680 and WR-679 towards WR-676 and WR-675
Each order authorises two gates to enforce the closure. Worcestershire County Council is responsible for maintaining the gates and the paths. (Worcester City Council (Footpath WR-678) Public Spaces Protection Order 2026)
The penalty
Breaching a Public Spaces Protection Order is an offence under section 67 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Both orders set out the punishment:
- a fixed penalty notice of up to £100, or
- on summary conviction, a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale, which the council’s own guidance puts at up to £1,000
A PSPO can be enforced by a police officer, a police community support officer or an authorised council officer. (Worcester City Council, Public Space Protection Orders)
Why the crossings are being shut
Network Rail asked Worcestershire County Council to close the two crossings. The county concluded that an extinguishment order under the Highways Act would not stand up, because the problem was anti-social behaviour rather than structural safety, so it asked the city council to use its PSPO powers instead. Network Rail has no statutory power to close a level crossing itself. (The Proposed Closure of Pedestrian Footpaths at Brickfields Railway Crossing and Kays Railway Crossing, report to Communities Committee, 8 June 2022)
The case set out in that report is specific.
Kays Crossing is ranked 22nd most at risk out of 341 footpath crossings on Network Rail’s Western Route, on the industry’s All Level Crossing Risk Model. In the six months from May to November 2019 it recorded ten incidents, the most of any crossing on that route:
- one fatality, described in the report as a non-suspicious deliberate act
- seven deliberate misuses, six of them involving children or groups of young people
- two near misses, each of which forced the driver to make an emergency brake application
The report says the crossing has poor visibility for both pedestrians and drivers, that users have to judge for themselves whether it is safe to cross, and that it is busy with schoolchildren at the morning and evening peaks. It also records that the number of people taking their own lives at the crossing has been higher than at comparable locations.
Brickfields has its own history. The committee first made a PSPO closing it in June 2017, after stones were thrown at trains, and that order ran from 7 July 2017 to 6 July 2020.
Neither path has been legally open for some time in any case. The county council imposed temporary closures on both, and the report records the Kays closure as running from 12 February 2020.
What the council rejected
The 2022 report went through the alternatives and dismissed each one:
- A bridge or automated crossing. Network Rail says neither is possible at either site, because private housing is too close and there is a risk of trapping people on the track.
- Automated warnings. More visible and audible warnings would not stop the behaviour.
- Education. British Transport Police visited local schools. The force reported that over the six months in 2019 this had little to no effect.
- CCTV. Cameras were installed. They attracted vandalism at both remote sites and could not be relied on.
Two things the council’s own records disagree about
The consultation. The council’s Public Space Protection Orders page says that, following the public consultation, “Worcester City Council received no objections” at each site. Its own committee report says otherwise. At Kays Crossing, 102 of 161 respondents opposed the closure and 59 supported it, and 95 against 66 opposed closing it for three years. At Brickfields it was closer: 54 in favour of closure, 48 against.
Objectors made the same arguments at both sites. It is a public right of way. It saves a long walk. It is the way into the nature reserve. Closing it moves the behaviour somewhere else. Several asked for a bridge, more police patrols or CCTV instead.
Support for enforcement was much stronger than support for closure. At Brickfields, 69% agreed with issuing penalty notices and 78% with prosecuting persistent offenders. At Kays, the figures were 62% and 70%.
The expiry date. The council’s web page says both orders expire on 3 September 2029. The sealed orders and the statutory notice both say two years from 4 September 2026, which is 3 September 2028. The 2022 committee report approved a maximum of three years, which is the legal ceiling for a PSPO. An order can be extended by a further period of up to three years if the council reviews it and is satisfied that is necessary.
What it means for you
- Do not use either crossing. The right of way is restricted at all times, to all people. A fixed penalty notice of up to £100 can be issued on the spot.
- You have until 29 September to challenge the orders. An interested person may apply to the High Court within six weeks of the date the orders were made. They were made on 18 August 2026, so that window closes on 29 September 2026. An interested person is someone who lives in the restricted area, or who regularly works in or visits it.
- You can read the orders for free. Copies are at the Customer Service Centre, 89 High Street, Worcester WR1 2EY, open 9am to 4pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and 9.30am to 4pm on Wednesday. Emailed copies are free from community.safety@worcester.gov.uk or 01905 722233.
- Report a problem with the gates or the path to the county council, not the city council. Worcestershire County Council maintains both.
- Worcester has two other PSPOs in force: an alcohol order covering a defined city centre area, which runs to 12 August 2027, and a dog control order covering the whole city, which runs to 5 July 2027. Both carry the same £100 fixed penalty.
If any of this has affected you, Samaritans is free to call on 116 123, at any hour.
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