Bikes on towpath 'a bad idea'

Fred Slater made his call as council bosses unveiled plans to open a new cycle path connecting Darwen to Witton Park.

It runs mainly off-road, but also takes in a large stretch of the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Mill Hill, Blackburn.

Coun Slater said: "This council is obsessed with cycle paths. We have narrow little tracks on busy roads which are never used and are a complete waste of money.

"The council is right to move the cycle paths off road where possible, but not along the canal. The towpaths on the canal should be used for people who are walking or fishing on there, not by people cycling on there.

"Anglers often have long rods and when they have caught something take up the whole path reeling something in. People who are walking can stop but cyclists, who often aren't aware of what is going on around them, could crash into them."

Coun Slater said he was prompted to speak out after seeing several 'near misses' on the canal.

"At the same time, they could get tangled or caught on line as it is flung back. They could quite easily end up in the canal and promoting using the canal path for bikes is just asking for trouble.

"The two just aren't suitable next to each other.

"Instead of promoting cycling on there, we should be banning it from the tow paths. That's the only way to make sure the canals remain peaceful. Blackburn and Darwen weren't meant for cycling. We should have a by-law.

"Is nowhere safe from bloomin' bikes? They should be kept off-road and away from the canal too." The new Witton Park Cycle Route is costing £226,000, which has come from various funding pots from the Government, including £61,000 from the New Opportunities Fund and £100,000 from the Single Regeneration Budget, both awarded to the council to tackle social exclusion and deprivation.

It is 5.6km in length and runs from Witton Park -- where part of one of the country's national cycle routes passes -- up to the canal at Mill Hill. It runs from there to Ewood, where it joins the Darwen Valley Parkway.

There is an exit at Ewood Park designed to encourage people to travel by bike to watch Blackburn Rovers.

The route could be extended to Darwen town centre in the future.

Coun Andy Kay, in charge of regeneration, said: "I have been cycling on many occasions along the canal and it has never been a problem for me and certainly we won't ban cycling.

"People do want to cycle on roads and we have put in that provision, but the reason it is not as popular here as elsewhere is because our roads are quite narrow.

"This particular route should promote walking and cycling to tackle social exclusion in wards.

"It will widen travel choice between local events, amenities and open green spaces, improve the health level of the local population, especially the young, encourage pollution-free travel and improve wheelchair access to open spaces."

Grahame Parkes, from the Hyndburn and Blackburn Angling Association, said: "I think a ban is going a bit far because the canal is there for everyone to enjoy.

"But cyclists do cause problems and conflicts of interest. I've seen cyclists end up in the canal because they can't stop and collide with anglers.

"Common sense needs to prevail, maybe in the form of anglers-only areas of the canal. Anglers pay for the privilege of being on the canal, cyclists don't.

"There is already merry hell when a cyclist comes along and wrecks a £1,000 fishing pole by crashing into it."

British Waterways said cyclists should have permits to cycle along the towpaths, although they said this was more for bikers to show they were aware of the need to be courteous to other road users and failure to have one would not result in a fine.

A spokesman for safety charity RoSPA said: "Cyclists are vulnerable on the road but when using cyclepaths they need to be aware of what is going on around them and be courteous, not just to anglers, but to families and walkers.

"We would also urge anglers to be aware of their surroundings and not block towpaths."