Mayor’s £300,000 to get people cycling in London suburbs

Twelve councils in outer London are to receive £25,000 each to help them become "cycling boroughs".

Transport for London wants to encourage more people in the suburbs on to bikes — half of all car trips in outer London are less than two miles, which could be covered on a bike in about 10 minutes. Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Haringey, Havering, Hillingdon, Kingston, Merton and Redbridge will all be given money to fund studies on how cycling can be developed.

Plans could include installing more secure bike parking spaces or improving junction layouts to make them safer for cyclists. It is the first cycling-related announcement from City Hall in what Boris Johnson is hoping will become the "year of the bike" in London.

This year the Mayor will launch a capital-wide bike hire scheme and the first two of 10 cycling superhighways, from South Wimbledon to Bank and from Barking to Tower Hill. Kulveer Ranger, Mr Johnson's transport adviser, said the scheme would also be "delivering health benefits and encouraging the use of local shops."