CAMPAIGNERS got on their bikes in Southampton to protest at plans to axe a cycleway in the heart of Southampton.

The Conservatives seized control of the city council in this month's local elections and immediately vowed to scrap the new bus lane/cycleway at Bitterne Road West and across the Northam Bridge.

Today members of the Critical Mass Southampton cycling group rode across the bridge to highlight what they described as the importance of retaining the route.

Cyclists say they are "disappointed" that government advice is not being followed. 

It follows a statement made by Cllr Dan Fitzhenry, leader of the city's Conservatives, after Labour lost control of the council in the May 6 elections.

Shortly after the declaration of the final results Cllr Fitzhenry listed a number of measures his group aimed to put in place “immediately”.

These included freezing council tax in their first year in office, beginning work to create an extra 1,000 parking spaces on council estates across the city and removing the bus lane on Bitterne Road West.

Cllr Fitzhenry said: “We’ll get on and deliver those things as quickly as we can.

“The first thing we will be doing for the city will be to implement our plan of removing the bus lane in Bitterne and reviewing the transport set-ups that have been put forward by the previous Labour council. Those things will be done immediately."

A statement issued by the council when Labour were in power said the bus lane/cycleway was part of Southampton’s Green Transport Recovery Plan.

It added: "Bitterne Road West is identified as a major bus corridor with 32 buses per hour.

"As bus operators are currently required to reduce the passenger numbers on individual buses to accommodate social distancing guidelines, there is a greater chance that buses will be full and that passengers will have to wait longer to catch a bus.

"The new bus lanes will ensure public transport providers can operate efficiently and passengers can experience a reliable service while these challenges remain.

"While the general advice is currently to avoid public transport where people can, buses still play an important role for key workers and those who do not have access to a car for their essential journeys.

"Improving bus infrastructure to make bus journeys more reliable and faster is vital to our longer-term recovery and future transport strategy."

The statement added: "People have started to cycle more and we want to encourage people to carry on doing this.

"The new bus lanes, whilst not a fully segregated cycling facility, provide an improved cycling environment and support social distancing by offering an alternative to cycling on the narrow, shared-use pavements on Bitterne Road West and Northam Bridge."