Ken accuses over cycle spending

10:22am Thursday 3rd May 2007

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London Mayor Ken Living-stone has attacked the borough of Barnet for failing to promote cycling despite huge investments in the rest of the capital.

The number of cyclists in London has soared by 83 per cent since 2000, the mayor announced on Tuesday.

But he criticised Barnet Council for spending nothing on facilities such as cycle lanes and bike parking.

Elsewhere in London, some 500km of cycle lanes have been put in place with another 400km by the end of 2010. Transport for London (TfL) has also installed 10,000 bicycle parking spaces across the capital in the past two years.

Barnet Council has applied for funding from TfL to carry out studies into the safety of roads for cyclists in the next two years.

The council said it was focusing on making all roads safe for cyclists, rather than putting cycle lanes on selected roads.

Barnet's cabinet member for environment and transport, Councillor Matthew Offord, said: "Barnet Council's approach is to provide a top quality road surface, which benefits all road users, but especially cyclists as they are most affected by potholes and bumps.

"We also provide Safe Cycling Courses to children, and will be investing in cycling amenities for our staff.

"This is yet another groundless rant from a Labour Mayor who hates Barnet."

The mayor's comments came at the launch of an advertising campaign - You're better off by bike - to encourage more Londoners to ride their bikes this summer.

He said London was experiencing a "cycling renaissance", with an estimated 480,000 cycle journeys made every day across London.