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Highway - Obstruction - "Excuse" - Motor van selling hot dogs - Van parked near bus stop for five minutes - Whether unreasonable use of highway - Circumstances to be considered - "Wilfully obstructs" - Highways Act, 1959 (7 & 8 Eliz. 2, c. 25), s. 121 (1)
Notes
This case establishes what amounts to a "reasonable excuse" where someone is charged with obstructing the highway. It states that all the circumstances have to be considered in deciding whether an obstruction was reasonable, including the duration of the obstruction, its purpose and the extent to which free passage along the highway was actually obstructed.
This case is very useful if you are accused of obstructing the highway with a street stall or with placards during the course of a demo. The principles of the case have been more recently applied in the cases of Hirst and Agu v Chief Constable of West Yorkshire and Westminster City Council v Haw, where the obstructions were caused during the course of a demonstration.
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