Good rule and governance byelaw

Byelaws for the good rule and government of the city of Leeds.

(For the prevention of dogs fouling footways and mud etc. Falling from vehicles on highways).

Byelaws for the good rule and government of the City of Leeds and for the prevention of nuisances made by the Council of the City in pursuance of Section 235 of the Local Government Act 1972.

1. Music near houses

No person shall sound or play upon any musical or noisy instrument or sing in any street or public place within 100 metres of any dwellinghouse or office, after being requested to desist by any resident or occupant thereof, either personally or through any person acting on his behalf, or through a constable, on account of the interruption of the ordinary occupations or pursuits of any such resident or occupant or for other reasonable and sufficient cause: Provided that this byelaw shall not apply to properly conducted religious services, except where the request to desist is made on the ground of the serious illness of any resident of the house.

2. Music near churches

No person shall sound or play upon any musical or noisy instrument or sing in any street or public place within 100 metres of any place of public worship or public entertainment or other place of public assembly in which persons are for the time being assembled, to the annoyance or disturbance of any person or persons so assembled, after being requested to desist by any constable, or by any person so annoyed or disturbed, or by any person acting on his behalf.

3. Music near hospitals

No person shall sound or play upon any musical or noisy instrument or sing in any street or public place within 100 metres of any hospital, infirmary, convalescent home, or other place used for the reception or treatment of the sick, after being requested to desist by any constable, or by any patient or officer of such hospital or other place, or by any person acting on his behalf.

4. Noisy hawking

No person shall, for the purpose of hawking, selling, distributing or advertising any article, shout or use any bell, gong, or other noisy instrument in any street or public place so as to cause annoyance to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood.

5. Noisy conduct at night

No person shall in any street or public place between the hours of 23.00 and 06.00 wantonly and continuously shout or otherwise make any loud noise to the disturbance or annoyance of residents.

6. Touting

No person shall in any street or public place for the purpose of selling or advertising any article or obtaining custom tout or importune to the annoyance or obstruction of passengers.

7. Shooting-galleries

No person shall in any street or public place, or on any land adjoining or near to any street or public place, keep or manage, or cause to be kept or managed, a shooting-gallery, swing-boat, roundabout, or any other construction of a like character, so as to cause obstruction or danger to the traffic in such street or public place.

8. Fireworks etc, in place of entertainment

No person shall, with intent to cause annoyance or inconvenience to any person in any place of entertainment to which the public are admitted with or without the payment of money, while the public are on the premises, throw or let off any firework, stink-bomb or similar article, or squirt, spray or otherwise throw or scatter any offensive liquid, powder or substance in any such place as aforesaid.

9. Loitering at church doors

No person shall wilfully and persistently loiter at or near the entrance of any church, chapel or other place of public worship to the annoyance or obstruction of any persons going to, attending at, or returning from divine service in such church, chapel, or other place of public worship.

10. Preservation of road margins

(1) No person shall without lawful authority drive or place a vehicle (other than a heavy commercial vehicle, as defined by section 36A of the Road Traffic Act 1972) or cause a vehicle to be driven or placed, upon any road margin to which this byelaw applies.

(2) This byelaw applies to any road margin which is:

(i) in or beside a public road other than a trunk road vested in the Secretary of State;

(ii) laid or sown with grass or planted with trees, shrubs or plants, and maintained constantly in good order for ornamental purposes; And

(iii) indicated to be a margin to which this byelaw applies by means of notices conspicuously displayed on or near the said margin by the Council.

11. Mud, etc, falling from vehicles to the highway

(1) When, to the knowledge of a person in charge of a vehicle, any mud, clay, lime or similar material has fallen on a highway from the vehicle, such person shall, if such fallen material is likely to cause obstruction or danger to persons using the highway or injury to the surface of the highway, remove or cause to be removed all such fallen material from the highway as completely and as soon as is reasonably practicable.

(2) The person in charge of a vehicle shall not bring the vehicle or permit it to be brought upon a highway unless there has been removed from the wheels thereof as completely as is reasonably practicable all mud, clay, lime and similar material which is likely, if not so removed, to cause obstruction or danger to persons using the highway or injury to the surface of the highway.

(3) In this byelaw -

- "the person in charge of a vehicle" means the person who whether as owner or otherwise has the charge or control of a vehicle or being present is entitled to give orders to the person having charge or control;

- "vehicle" includes any trailer and any agricultural implement or machine.

"wheels" includes axles, runners and tracks

12 Dangerous games near streets

No person shall on any land adjoining a street play any offensive or dangerous game in such a manner as to cause obstruction to the traffic or danger to any person in such street.

13. Spitting

No person shall spit on the floor, side or wall of any public carriage or of any public hall, public waiting-room or place of public entertainment, whether admission thereto be obtained upon payment or not.

14. Bulls

No person shall drive or lead, or cause to be driven or led, in any street or public place, any bull exceeding the age of ten months, unless it be properly secured and kept under proper control.

15. Dog fouling

(1) No person in charge of a dog shall allow the dog to foul a footway or grass verge (being a footway or grass verge to which this byelaw applies) by depositing its excrement thereon.

This byelaw applies to:

(a) the footway of any highway or any public place; and

(b) a grass verge which is not more than three metres in width and is:

(i) adjacent to the carriageway or footway of a highway

(ii) managed by a Local Authority and maintained in good order

Provided that in proceedings for an offence against this byelaw it shall be a defence for a person charged to prove that he took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the commission of the offence.

(2) For the purpose of this byelaw the owner of the dog shall be deemed in charge thereof, unless the Court is satisfied that at the time when the dog fouled the footway or grass verge it had been placed in or taken into the charge of some other person.

16. Skateboards

No person shall on any public carriageway or footway skate on rollers or wheels or other mechanical contrivances to the danger of other persons lawfully using the carriageway or footway.

17. Noise

Between the hours of 8 am and 9 pm no person shall by operating or causing or suffering to be operated, any wireless set, gramophone, amplifier or similar instrument in any street or public place, make or cause or suffer to be made any noise which is so loud and so continuous or repeated as to give reasonable cause for annoyance to other persons.

18. Urinating

No person shall urinate or defecate in any street or public place.

19. Sale of contraceptives in slot machines

(1) It shall be an offence to offer a contraceptive for sale by means of any automatic machine so placed that it can be used by persons who are in a street.

(2) In this byelaw the expression "street" includes a way or place over which the public have a right of passage and also the forecourt of or entrance to a building, provided that such forecourt or entrance is exposed to the view of persons passing along the street, and that the public have unrestricted access to such forecourt or entrance.

20. Penalty clause

Any person offending against any of the foregoing byelaws shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding fifty pounds.

Repeals

From and after the date on which these byelaws come into operation, all byelaws for good rule and government made by the Local Authorities which administered the area of Leeds City Council prior to the 1st April 1974 together with all byelaws for good rule and government made by the Leeds City Council after 1st April 1974 shall, so far as the area now administered by Leeds City Council is concerned, be and are hereby repealed.