Segway scooter fan to make legal history with legal challenge to ban

Phillip Coates, 51, was on his way to do some shopping in Barnsley when he was flagged down by a police officer and told he was breaking the law.

He was later interviewed and charged with riding a motor vehicle on the pavement under the Highways Act 1835. Mr Coates has now pleaded not guilty at Barnsley Magistrates' Court, paving the way for the first defended prosecution of a Segway rider in the UK.

Currently the Government classes the scooters as motor vehicles and says they can only be used on private land.

Mr Coates, who bought the Segway after trying one out during a holiday in Florida, said: "They are perfectly safe and I've even let my mum, who is 86, have a go on it. I have been stopped by the police before but they just said they were making inquiries and I never heard anything more from them.

"That's why I was stunned when I was stopped again and told I had to go to the police station for an interview. I couldn't believe it when they said I would be charged."

Segway scooters cost around 5,000 and are legal in 44 US states and most of Europe.

Solicitor Victoria Molloy, who is representing Mr Coates, said she would be challenging the machine's designation as a motor vehicle.

She added: "Until now no one has ever been charged with an offence in order for this to be challenged by law."