Peaks gear up for cash

The cash forms part of £62m investment to make cycling more attractive to people in cities and the countryside.

National park authorities will be able to bid for a share of the £12million in partnership with their highways authorities.

They must be able to prove they will enable more people to cycle – which the Peak District has already done with its popular Pedal Peak District project to re-open former railway tunnels on the Monsal Trail in 2011.

Peak District National Park Authority chief executive Jim Dixon said the authority and its partners would definitely make a bid: “This is a great opportunity for national parks to show how cycling can benefit the economy, the environment and communities.”