A Letchworth school has opened a new facility for cycle and scooter parking in a bid to encourage a more sustainable way of travelling to school.

Wilbury Junior School is the tenth Letchworth school to benefit from the project - delivered by Transition Town Letchworth and North Hertfordshire District Council - which has provided cycle and scooter parking spaces at a number of community areas, including the guide hut, two church halls and North Herts Leisure Centre.

Letchworth now boasts 17 new cycle shelters, three refurbished cycle shelters, and parking stands for 406 bicycles and 205 scooters.

Transition Town Letchworth trustee, Julia Sonander, said: "It has been exciting to be involved in this project which will encourage cycling and scootering in the town.

"When we started scoping the project, many of the schools had insufficient capacity for bikes and scooters. Now these schools will have facilities to encourage more children to come to school on their bikes and scooters, rather than in cars, which will be good for the planet and for children's health."

Transition Town Letchworth hope that the project will be the start of a working relationship with the district and county council to help deliver significant increases in the use of sustainable transport.

Cycling groups in the town have also joined forces with TTL to develop a proposal for a new cycle network in Letchworth.

Cllr Steve Jarvis, NHDC's executive member for the environment said: "The bike rack installation project has been successful in encouraging cyclists of all ages to use their bicycles more often. Cycling has many benefits to people's fitness and by choosing to use a bike instead of a car for local journeys, residents are helping to fight the climate emergency."

Wilbury Junior School headteacher Ms Atkins said: "The new initiative has given the children the opportunity to learn life skills such as how to look after their possessions.

"We would like to continue this important work, and are aiming to get cycling proficiency offered to all the children in the school in the future.

"We want to thank TTL for this generous contribution to our school."

To find out more about other Transition Town Letchworth projects, join them at their group meeting and AGM on Tuesday, February 11.