A report has revealed an increase in life expectancy for residents who walk and cycle in the borough.

Waltham Forest Council commissioned researchers at Kings College London, to investigate the impact of walking and cycling on long term health.

The final part of that report has now been released.

Researchers found Waltham Forest residents could live up to three weeks longer if they incorporated more walking and cycling into their daily journey to school.

Children born in the borough from 2006 were also predicted to get an extra six weeks added to their life expectancy due to increased levels of physical activity.

The study also found that increases in walking and cycling across the borough could equate to an extra nine months of life for each Waltham Forest resident.

The Guardian asked the council how much the report cost to commission, but is yet to receive a response.

The findings complement another commissioned report by Dr Rachel Aldred of Westminster University.

Dr Aldred’s report neighbourhoods with Mini-Holland interventions across Waltham Forest, Enfield and Kingston are walking an extra 32 minutes a week and cycling an extra nine minutes a week compared to Londoners living outside of mini-Holland boroughs.

Since 2015, Waltham Forest’s Mini Holland, also known as the Enjoy Waltham Forest scheme, has seen the introduction of 22km of segregated cycle lanes, 104 new pedestrian crossings, 15 pocket parks and the planting of 660 new trees.

But the scheme has proved controversial, with residents worrying that changes and reductions to emissions are being made in the more affluent areas of the borough.

Lucy Shomali, director for the council’s regeneration and growth department, denied this.

She said there has been a reduction in emissions “throughout the whole borough” and that the council’s aim is to “move people away from traffic to reduce exposure.”

Research by the Mayor of London found that if every Londoner walked or cycled for 20 minutes a day, it would save the NHS £1.7 billion in treatment costs over the next 25 years.

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy council leader and cabinet member for the environment, said: “This report adds even more evidence of the benefit of increased exercise on our resident’s life expectancy.

“These reports show that the effort we’ve put in to enable and encourage our residents to be more active and removing non-local traffic from our residential roads is working.

“But there are still an estimated 270 people in Waltham Forest dying prematurely as a result of poor air quality which is why we recently published our Air Quality Action Plan to tackle this public health crisis.”

Linzi Roberts-Egan, deputy chief executive for Waltham Forest Council, said: “The decisions made to introduce the scheme have been controversial, but they we have started to be proven to be the right decisions.

“It’s been a really hard battle getting people to think about it differently, but we are bucking the trend for the greater good in terms of improving life expectancies and life chances for residents.”