Cyclists were handed an expensive safety reminder when they were spotted by police flouting Oxford's pedestrianised streets.

Police fined 85 cyclists for riding along Cornmarket Street and Queen Street in just under three hours yesterday.

The flurry of £30 fines came only weeks after Joyce Read, 80, suffered a broken hip after she was knocked down by a reckless cyclist in Cornmarket Street.

Some cyclists caught red-handed by police pleaded to be given a warning instead of fines.

Pc Steve Higa, who managed the operation, said: "On a daily occurrence people come up to us and ask when will these cyclists be stopped.

"They should read signs and follow them because, if not, you get people like Joyce Read who get badly hurt.

"The majority of people we fined said they did not know the rules. Others said 'yes you are quite right', while some said it was the first time they had done it.

"Hopefully, a £30 fine will help remind them not to do it again."

Between 10.30am and 1.30pm, police dished out £30 fines to 32 cyclists in pedestrianised Cornmarket Street and 53 in Queen Street which is restricted only to buses and pedestrians.

The crackdown was prompted by complaints from the Oxford Access Advice Group, which wrote to police fearing disabled and elderly people were in danger.

Cycling is banned on pedestrianised Cornmarket Street and bus-only Queen Street between 10am and 6pm.

Sarah Murphy, 28, of Cowley, fined £30 for cycling in Cornmarket Street, said: "I understand where police are coming from, but I was not hurtling down the road. I was free-wheeling and looking around."

Hassan Irtaza, 36, of East Oxford, stopped and fined in Queen Street, said: "They are doing this to make money."

Joyce Read, 80, of Headington, suffered a broken hip after she was knocked down by a cyclist in Cornmarket Street in July.

The cyclist has never been found.

She said: "Perhaps fining people is the only way. They don't take notice of all the warnings."

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council, which imposes the restrictions, said: "The signage is there. People should take notice."