A “DAUNTING” cycle lane has been added to a Blackburn Street - heading into one-way traffic.

The new facility in Tontine Street has been questioned by bike enthusiasts and a former traffic warden, but safety experts have given it the thumbs up.

Council engineers marked out the lane last week, as part of the town’s local transport plan.

Lancashire Telegraph reader Bill Booth, 72, of Higher Croft Road, Blackburn, was a traffic warden for 30 years.

He said: “It’s not very safe. They have got the cycle lane running the opposite way to the traffic. As far as I’m concerned cyclists should still come under the Highway Code.”

Mr Booth also claimed the road was rarely used by cyclists so there was no need for the cycle lane.

Ian Kay, who manages Ewood Bikes on Bolton Road, Blackburn, said: “I have not heard of anything like that before.

“You would have to be brave to use it”.

Last year Conservative leader David Cameron apologised after being spotted riding the wrong way down a one-way street.

But the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it had no safety concerns about “contra-flow” cycle lanes, provided they are well marked, according to a spokeswoman.

Chris Ensslin, an engineer for the Sustrans cycle network, said the facilities were fairly new to the UK.

He added: “They can be quite daunting, and motorists are sometimes surprised to see cyclists coming the other way, but there’s not problem if they are marked out.

“They are a good way to get cyclists moving around towns quickly and efficiently”.

Lancashire Telegraph cycling columnist Dave Brown said: “It’s a good thing - but Blackburn is a very difficult town to get around for a cyclist.

"There’s no structure”.