apparently there is a law on child bike seats.

[mckenzie]

According to the very helpful if slightly anorakish man in Halfords today, if I use the bike that I have been sold (by a local independent bike shop) to use specifically for carrying my 20 month old DD in the bike seat (which i also bought from him) I am breaking the law and could face a £700 fine.
The man did go on to describe exactly what a bike must have/do to be deemed suitable for a child seat (things like a quick release rear wheeel, so many spokes of a certain distance etc) and my new bike fails dismally.
Before I go back to the local shop and request a refund (not fit for the purpose etc) I'm trying to get all the facts and have been searching the internet. It's part of the Child Protection Law but i haven't so far been able to find anything relevant.
Any ideas anyone please?
TIA

Sounds like a load of old guff to me

It's not as it someone is going to stop you and inspect your bike
Do you think your bike is suitable for a child seat?

why would it need quick release wheels ?

Most bikes probably still don't have quick release wheels.

I'll be watching this one with interest as we have seats for both of the children and used them a lot. Fitted by our nice independent bike shop.

I'm also practising my emoticon

I couldn't find anything on the dept of transport site
These sites don't mention any regs either

www.whycycle.co.uk/children-babyseats.htm

www.lcc.org.uk/index.asp?PageID=761

Go back to Halfords (or phone) and ask him for the details of the law/regulations he's talking about (not just "Child Protection Law" which is so vague and waffly as to be useless). If it's for real he'll know (or will be able to find someone who does) - and you'll be able to verify by looking up the specific regulations online.

no there isn't .. what a pile of pants
I shall be amazed if I'm wrong

thanks for all the replies. I'm waiting on a call back froma friend who has recently met a lady (through having had another baby) whose husband owns a bike shop.
We're going to see if he knows anything before I call Halfords back.
I'e looked at the links that TheBlonde gave me and if it's not on there then it does seem unlikely to be true huh?

Sounds like rubbish. I get my bike work done at an independent bike shop, who sell lots of cycling-with-kids gear, and who've said nothing about this stuff. My current rear wheel isn't quick release.

And, come to think of it, I've dealt with the police once, after having had a small smash with two kids on my bike, and they didn't express any interest in my bike.

Oooh, I found this:

Restriction of carriage of persons on bicycles.

24.?(1) Not more than one person may be carried on a road on a bicycle not propelled by mechanical power unless it is constructed or adapted for the carriage of more than one person.

(2) In this section?
(a) references to a person carried on a bicycle include references to a person riding the bicycle, and
(b) "road" includes bridleway.
(3) If a person is carried on a bicycle in contravention of subsection (1) above, each of the persons carried is guilty of an offence.

[end quote]

Basically, that means that you can't just pile extra people on the bike. But presumably putting a kid seat on a bike makes it a bike "adapted" to carry extra people?

So it's down to interpretation.

i'm more concerned that my bike is not up to the right standard really rather than there being a law. I want to make sure that it is more than up to carrying the seat etc before I go out on it again.

sounds like a load of bowlocks to me

certain number of spokes in the wheel? surely he was having a laugh - probably pissed off that you didn't get your bike there

and to get a £700 fine driving a car, you'd probably have to be doing 100mph on the motorway so he was obviously messing around.

I would call up and ask to speak to his supervisor.

Well, a quick release rear wheel makes no difference to safety etc. I don't see why spoke length or number makes a difference - are you missing spokes? I'd get that fixed.

I'd take the bike to a decent bike shop (not Halfords!) and see what they say. You do need better brakes if you're biking with a child on, ime, or at least, you wear through your brakes faster.

well, i thought there were no flies on me but it seems I might have been taken for a fool by the Halfords man. None of the government related websites mention any law, none of the companies selling child seats on the internet mention it etc.
2 local shops have now offered to take a good look at the bike and seat and check that it is completely safe to put my mind at rest, and so has my friend's friend's husband.