Cheap cycles benefit us all, says report

An army of commuters who have rejected cars and public transport in favour of bicycles is saving more than 130,000 tons of CO2 emissions every year, says a new study.

Since it launched in 1999, 400,000 people have taken up the government's cycle to-work scheme, which allows workers to buy bicycles through their employer as a tax-exempt benefit.

It is not just the environment that is benefiting. The study, by the Cycle to Work Alliance, surveyed more than 44,000 Britons: 87 per cent reported health improvements since taking up the scheme. Most are converts to cycling.

The Government is keen to promote the scheme: a 20 per cent increase in cycling in Britain in 2012 would result in estimated savings of £500m by 2015 – from reduced costs of congestion, pollution and healthcare.