CYCLISTS will not be banned from using the promenade in Bournemouth and Poole, with the leader of BCP Council saying she would not pursue a threat made last week.

Councillor Vikki Slade said that unless speed restrictions were followed over the weekend, bikes would be forbidden on the route.

But speaking on Monday, she said the council would not pursue the matter “at this stage”, although it would be kept “under review”.

There has been a rise in the number of cyclists using the promenade since lockdown measures were introduced.

But there have been several collisions and concerns have been raised about the speed many are travelling at.

Last Wednesday, during a Facebook question and answer session, Cllr Slade said unless behaviour improved over the weekend, cycling on the route could be banned all together.

“We are asking that the Prom is used sensibly,” she said. “There have been issues with cyclists going too fast and their being too many of them.

“We want to give it one more weekend to see if people can behave fairly and responsibly and I have asked police to carry out a few more patrols in spots where people have been cycling in groups and cycling too fast.

“It’s frightening for people if you are cycling along at high speed and there have been accidents. I don’t want to have to take cyclists off the Prom.”

But speaking on Monday, Cllr Slade said she would not yet be asking for work to start on arranging a ban but said the situation would continue to be monitored by the council.

“The lifting of restrictions nationally has meant people are able to do more in their leisure time now,” Cllr Slade said. “For our seafront, this has meant people spending time on the beach, and seems to have led to more of a return to normal in terms of the number of cyclists on the promenade.

“In turn this has made the promenade more accessible and made social distancing easier.

“We still require cyclists to observe the speed limit, to give priority to pedestrians and to give all those they pass a two-metre wide berth and not to cycle in groups.

“At this stage, I won’t be asking members or officers to consider a ban of cyclists from the prom. This will be kept under review.’’