CYCLING access to Nelson town centre is set to be improved in a £15,000 scheme.

County highways chiefs have given the green light for a new cycle track along New Scotland Road and Bradley Road to link with the town centre.

The pavement will be converted to allow cycling, while continuing to give right of way to pedestrians.

The county council said the £15,750 project was part of a wider scheme to improve cycling facilities in Pendle.

Frank Holden, roads engineer at Lancashire County Council, said: “The county council has developed proposals to provide improved cycle access into Nelson town centre.

“The proposals are intended to encourage more people to choose cycling as a means of transport by providing a link with Bradley Road and Regent Street.

“This will provide a cycle route on minor roads and cycle paths from Nelson to Whitewalls Industrial Estate and Colne.

“The proposal is to provide a short length of cycle track on the east side of New Scotland Road to allow cyclists from the minor road of Bradley Road to the pelican crossing at Pollard Street and on to the toucan crossing at Leeds Road and subsequently the existing cycle track facilities of Nelson town centre.

“The proposed cycle track is an important link to the wider network of cycle facilities that have been constructed in the Nelson, Pendle and Burnley areas.”

Coun Mohammed Iqbal, county councillor for Brierfield and Nelson North and borough Labour leader, said: “I welcome this as the current cycle route is very well used by local people and this extension is a bonus.”

More and more Pendle residents have been taking to two wheels with the borough becoming a hotbed for cycling.

As well as a yearly Pendle Cycle Fest event, a new closed road circuit around Swinden Playing Fields is currently under construction in Nelson.

The £300,000 facility is named after Pendle’s Olympic track cycling champion, Steven Burke.