The government has finally approved new bylaws which will allow cycling on the prom between Splash Point and the southern end of George V Avenue.

Deputy council leader John Rogers, who is also the council's "cycling champion", said: "I want a launch date of Friday, August 28, for the launch of the new cycling route, just before the bank holiday."

But, he continued, council staff now had a tight schedule to put up notices and lay tactile paving, as well as "white lining" areas by beach huts so that their occupants would not walk out from between the huts, straight into the path of a cyclist.

The re-opening of a promenade cycling facility will be for a trial period of 12 months.

It comes after years of argument over whether the promenade should be used as part of the south coast cycle route.

A previous, designated cycle lane on the western promenade in the mid 1990s was closed during its year trial period following an horrendous accident when a woman pedestrian was struck and seriously injured by a rider who was not in the designated lane at the time.

There are fears of similar accidents under this new arrangement, in which cyclists and pedestrians will "share" the promenade.

People worried about the safety of children, the elderly, disabled and visually handicapped have been among those opposing cycling on the promenade.

This view was previously held by the borough council's Tory administration which, until early last year, preferred the cycle route to be "


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