WORCESTERSHIRE County Council has secured funding to increase walking and cycling routes for commuters across the county.

As part of the £135,500 allocated to support active travel, enhancements will be made on the Redditch to Bromsgrove cycle route.

Councillor Alan Amos, Cabinet Member with Highways, said: “The County Council wholeheartedly supports active travel, and support all forms of Transport.

Improving our road network goes hand in hand with improving our cycling network, and remains one of our key priorities. This funding from Central Government will allow us to continue the progress we’ve already made in this area.”

Other routes in the county that will see improvements include the Stourport to Kidderminster route, Fernhill Heath to Blackpole and A449 Malvern to Worcester enhancements.

The funding will also help to create a cycle parking initiative, which will provide secure cycle parking at businesses, education and retail locations across Worcestershire.

These will be placed where no parking exists currently, or provision is limited, to enable more people to consider cycling to access local services and facilities.

The council will also continue the process of digitising Worcestershire’s walking and cycling maps to enable the public to access information and updates about the routes directly from their smart phones or other enabled devices.

Safety signage for COVID-19 and waymarking, to support safe social distancing, will also be installed.