CYCLING enthusiasts in Darlington have called on council managers to take a bold approach to encouraging people to leave their cars at home.

Darlington Cycling Campaign urged the borough council to invest a £1.5m windfall wisely to ensure more people adopt pedal power as a means of transport.

The town is to become one of six in England to share in almost £17m to get people on their bikes, having been chosen as one of the Government's new Cycling Demonstration Towns.

Campaign chairman Richard Grassick said: "We now hope that, with this award, a genuinely attractive, safe and direct cycling network will be developed in Darlington.

"Cyclists have, until recently, been a relatively small political voice in the town, but we know people want to cycle and to do so safely. This will only be achieved if the priorities given to cars in the town are now challenged.

"It is a very straightforward engineering solution, but one that most politicians can't face.

"The bullet must now be bitten: cars should give way to cyclists and pedestrians where they cross paths, not vice versa."

Mr Grassick said he hoped to see the money well spent over the next three years so that parents could have confidence in allowing their children to ride to school without being at risk.

He said: "We hope that by 2009, most parents will feel that it is safe to allow their kids to cycle to school, and that most commuters will feel it is quicker to cycle to the town centre than to drive.

"When we achieve this, we will surely have demonstrated to the country that cycling is a safe and healthy way to get around."

The authority has already pledged to invest the money to make cycling a healthy alternative to driving, as part of its Town on the Move initiative.