PUZZLED residents near Poole’s Civic Centre gyratory have questioned the wisdom of creating a new cycle lane that barely measures 10ft long.

The tiny lane at the slip road alongside Commercial Road was painted by Borough of Poole engineers last month as part of a £25,000 improvement scheme.

It was financed through the Three Towns Travel project, following a successful bid for more than £12 million to the Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

However, neighbours say cyclists are already ignoring the cycleway and are pedalling along the pavements or the adjacent bus lane.

Martin Snook, who lives opposite, told the Daily Echo: “It took about three weeks to go in and it’s not much more than 10ft long. Now they’ve got it done, most of them are still riding up and down on the pavements.

“I’ve got nothing against cyclists, but it’s just seems a lot of money is being spent on these lanes.”

Borough of Poole’s traffic manager Steve Tite said the slip road along Commercial Road has long been a convenient stop for buses, and it does not interfere with through traffic.

“The subsequent bus activated traffic signals allowed them direct access onto the main road,” he explained.

“Cyclists quite understandably also used this route but have come across the problem of being confronted with a red light which they could not legally pass through.”

Mr Tite said the short length of cycleway “bypasses these signals allowing cyclists to travel through uninterrupted.” The works consisted of footway realignment, island reshapin and a new carriageway.