EFFORTS to improve the lot of cyclists have been given a boost in the Hambleton area.

Taking to two wheels has long been promoted as a healthy and pollution-free alternative to taking the car. Now, making the switch is to become safer and easier through measures, which have won approval from district councillors.

The measures will see safer cycling lanes across the district, in particular in Northallerton and Bedale.

The authority's leisure committee has given the go-ahead to a £18,000 route through Bullamoor Park, Northallerton.

Cyclists will also be able to pedal from Aiskew to Bedale without having to cross busy main roads along a route through a new housing development on a former gas works site.

Work on both projects will start early next year.

Officials from Hambleton and Richmondshire District Councils and North Yorkshire County Council also aim to develop a route between Northallerton and Penrith. Two proposed routes, to link North Yorkshire with Cumbria, are being put forward for public consultation.

The link would boost the existing White Rose route, which links York with Teesside and Hull, by passing through Hambleton. That has already been selected to form the official North Sea Cycle Route, opening next summer.

"The inclusion of this route is of great news for this district," said the chairman of the leisure committee, Councillor Susan Latter.

"Not only are we promoting an alternative form of safe transport, but we are promoting a route for international visitors."