Bournemouth Council says it is doing its bit to make Bournemouth safer for cycling.

Yesterday the Echo revealed that the town is the third worst place in England for cycling casualties.

The council says investment is being made in creating new cycle lanes and parking facilities in a bid to get more people riding.

Ian Kalra, Bournemouth Council’s transportation services manager, said it was “committed to reducing the number of cycling casualties”.

He said: “We are currently working on major improvements to make cycling safer and easier in the future.” In May last year the council won £4.6million funding from the government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

Then in June Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset councils were allocated £12.1million from the same fund.

Mr Kalra added: “Over the next two years we will implement a major programme to make cycling safer and encourage more people to travel by bike.

“These include additional cycle lanes, crossings and traffic calming measures to cycle training programmes for children and adults.”

Julian McLaughlin, head of transportation services at Poole council, said the amount of cycle paths in Poole has increased from 65km in 2005 to more than 82km.

He said: “In that time we have seen cycle trips increase by over 100 per cent on some paths.

“Public satisfaction is high with Poole rated in the top 10 authorities in the country for cycle routes and facilities.”