SCHEMES to improve cycling in Waltham Forest have been announced.

A total of £250,000 from the Olympic Delivery Authority will be spent creating new cycle lanes and improving existing ones in an attempt to get more people out of their cars and on to their bikes.

Cycle links through Epping Forest will be reviewed, with a view to improving links to the borough.

Under the plans, new cycle lanes will be created in Whipps Cross Road and at the Bushwood Road/Bush Road junction in Leytonstone, as well as on the junction between Edward Road and Coppermill Lane in Walthamstow.

Cycle lanes will be remarked and repairs will be carried out in Leytonstone High Road between the Green Man roundabout and Thatched House junction.

Works to improve the environment in Cann Hall, Crownfield Road and Ruckholt Road are due to start later this year.

A total of 33 new bike stands will also be created across the borough.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, cabinet member for environment and bike enthusiast, said: "We want to get as many people as possible out of their cars and onto their bikes as we possibly can.”

"They are a great way of getting around quickly and easily and they are great for the environment as well.

"We aim to raise people's confidence on bicycles and provide the infrastructure they need to get around quickly and safely.”