Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022

80 Wilful obstruction of highway

(1) Section 137 of the Highways Act 1980 (penalty for wilful obstruction) is amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (1)—

(a) after “liable to” insert “imprisonment for a term not exceeding 51 weeks or”;

(b) for “not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale” substitute “or both”.

(3) After subsection (1) insert—

“(1A) In relation to an offence committed before the coming into force of section 281(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (alteration of penalties for certain summary offences: England and Wales), the reference in subsection (1) to 51 weeks is to be read as a reference to 6 months.

(1B) For the purposes of this section it does not matter whether free passage along the highway in question has already been temporarily restricted or temporarily prohibited (whether by a constable, a traffic authority or otherwise).

(1C) In subsection (1B), “traffic authority” has the same meaning as in the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (see section 121A of that Act).”