A POTENT peloton of around 70 cyclists of all ages took part in The Ride for Clean Air in Farnham on Sunday, June 21 – protesting that the town’s pavement widening trial has failed to cash in on the lockdown cycling boom.

The demo was centred around Gostrey Meadow and organised by XR Farnham, who hailed it a “great show of support for active transport and cleaner air”.

Key to the action was a call for more encouragement for “active travel” in Farnham – and criticism of Surrey and Farnham councils for “manifestly failing to provide for more cyclists” by not providing cycle lanes as part of the town centre trial.

A spokesman for XR Farnham said: "Covid-19 was borne of the global ecological crisis and has been an un-mitigated and ongoing disaster for the country.

"The road re-allocation scheme is a pragmatic, sensible and urgent response but Farnham and Surrey have failed to act sufficiently quickly, despite weeks to prepare.

"Therefore our twin aims for the action are to secure the necessary space for cyclists to move around Farnham safely and to hold on to the meaningful reduction in pollution that we have all enjoyed, post lockdown.

"For far too long, we have prioritised motor traffic travel over pedestrians and cyclists in a historic town that simply cannot cope with the levels of traffic that have built up in recent years.

"It has taken a global pandemic to show us how we can do things radically differently and so now is the time to redress the balance and put our collective health first."