CHELTENHAM could soon be following Paris, Amsterdam and

Cambridge with its own bicycle rental scheme.

The University of Gloucestershire launched a free rental

scheme in April to encourage more people to use pedal power to

travel from campus to campus.

It has proved so successful councillors want to roll it out

to the rest of the town during the summer months.

Tourists and residents would be able to borrow a bike from a

docking station and use it to travel around Cheltenham before

locking it up again afterwards.

The scheme from the On Yer Bike company allows people to use

their mobile phones to set up an account and get a security

code to take one of the bikes.

Coun Paul Massey (LD, Swindon Village), cabinet member for

sustainability, said: “The university has piloted the scheme

and they contacted us saying there are fewer students in the

town between July and August and did we want to make it

available in town for more people to use.

“We thought this was an excellent idea and we are hoping to

develop some plans for it so we can have a town-wide pilot in

July and August.”

Cheltenham Borough Council is working with local cycle

associations to try to find suitable docking stations.

One example would be having one at the railway station so

people could borrow a bike to ride into town, where they can

dock it again for someone else to use.

Coun Bernie Fisher (LD, Swindon Village) expressed concerns

to the council's environment overview and scrutiny committee

that the scheme, which involves setting up an account on a

mobile phone, could be confusing for tourists.

Coun Massey added: “The user can set up the account at the

bike dock, and I think the majority of people who may want to

use it would have access to a credit or debit card.

“It's tourist-friendly.”

Concerns about health and safety were raised during the

meeting because the scheme does not come equipped with cycle

helmets.

However the On Yer Bike company has said it would be more

dangerous to give out helmets which could be ill-fitting on

some people than riding without a helmet.

Coun Rob Garnham (C, Park) gave his backing to the scheme,

he said: “I think the On Yer Bike scheme is an excellent idea,

there might be concerns the bikes could end up all in one

place, but until we try it in the town we will never know.”

Andrew Simpson, operations manager at the university, said

despite the scheme only running for two months On Yer Bike and

the university had been encouraged by the take-up of the

bikes.

He added: “Once registered, it is very easy to take a bike

out and users have been very positive about the scheme.

“We look forward to seeing the scheme grow further over

time.”