Editing Downing Street (section)

=== Public right of way ===
[[File:Downing street.jpg|thumb|left|Downing Street in the late 1980s, before the gates were installed]]Technically speaking, the public [[Rights of way in England and Wales|right of way]] along Downing Street has not been extinguished nor subject to a gating order and the road retains the status of a public highway maintained by [[Westminster City Council]]. Public access was curtailed by relying on [[common law]] powers to prevent [[breach of the peace]]<ref name="1990hansard"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo011219/text/11219w59.htm |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 19 Dec 2001 (pt 59) |publisher=Publications.parliament.uk }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster |url=http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020724/text/20724w41.htm |title=House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 24 Jul 2002 (pt 41) |publisher=Parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013075132/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200102/cmhansrd/vo020724/text/20724w41.htm |archive-date=13 October 2008 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> (although its legality has been questioned by a correspondent for ''[[New Statesman]]'' magazine).<ref name=newstatesman>{{cite web|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/david-allen-green/2012/12/what-powers-do-downing-street-police-actually-have |title=What powers do the Downing Street police actually have? |first=David Allen |last=Green |website=New Statesman (blogs)|date=19 December 2012 }}</ref> In 2005, Westminster City Council used anti-terrorism powers contained in the [[Civil Contingencies Act 2004]] to formalise the restrictions by means of a traffic management order.<ref name=newstatesman /> This by implication results in Downing Street being inaccessible to the general public as admittance is only granted by the Police to scheduled visitors, Parliamentary pass holders and members of the accredited press.

Although the Downing Street government buildings and grounds are a designated site under the [[Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005]] for criminal trespass, the street was not included in the boundaries of the designated area.<ref>{{UK-LEG|title=Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 (Designated Sites under Section 128) Order 2007 (No. 930)|path=uksi/2007/930/schedule/2/part/1|asmade=yes}}</ref>