Greater Manchester leaders have hailed new investments into cycling and walking, with cycle trips per week up 16 per cent in the region.

Prime minister Boris Johnson has announced a £2 billion overhaul of cycling and walking in England, including new protected cycle lanes, cycle training for everyone and bikes available on prescription.

These plans have been welcomed by Chris Boardman, Greater Manchester's cycling and walking commissioner.

He said: "This is the biggest step forward for active travel that I have seen in my lifetime.

"For the past few months we’ve effectively had a global consultation by turning off traffic overnight and by doing this we showed that people will choose to ride bikes when they feel safe.

"The widespread commitments in this plan aim to build on that and demonstrate the bold leadership needed to achieve the active travel "revolution" the prime minister has promised."

"Creating a true cultural shift where cycling and walking is the default way to travel and parents are happy for their children to ride to school, requires far more than simply building bike lanes and the variety of measures laid out in these plans reflect the importance of increasing access to bikes, making local roads safer and improving air quality."