Obstruction and Public Order –

It is a criminal offence to obstruct free passage on the highway and this includes footways and cycle paths as well as roads. Whether a photographer will be treated as causing an obstruction depends on the reasonableness of his behaviour. Setting up a tripod in a busy street is obviously likely to cause an obstruction. The police will usually initially ask the photographer to move along rather than arrest him, unless his behaviour is persistent.
Another obstruction offence is that of obstructing a police officer in the execution of his duty. This basically means doing anything that makes it more difficult for the police to carry out their duties effectively. Getting in the way of the police while trying to photograph an incident, for example, would be obstructing them.

Photographers who are shooting incidents such as riots and illegal demonstrations should take care that the police don’t confuse them with the participants. The best advice is to stay calm, don’t argue and move further from the scene if requested to do so by the police. Refusal might lead to an arrest for obstruction.