Painted bike logos have begun appearing on roads around Penryn and Truro as part of a campaign for more cycle lanes.

As part of the national No Going Back campaign, Extinction Rebellion members have been out with chalk paint.

They are calling upon Cornwall Council and its highways department to provide more cycle routes and clearly marked cycle lanes at junctions and on roads, to help cyclists travel more safely in accordance with government lockdown guidelines.

The organisation said this would also have the added benefits of reducing air pollution and encouraging healthy exercise.

A spokesperson said: "Cycling has been highlighted as a preferred mode of transport in the times of the Covid-19 pandemic as the government eases the lockdown, with many bike shops selling out of cycles."

They went on to quote Steve Masi, owner of Falmouth Cycles, saying: "We've never been so busy. Our sales have quadrupled over the last couple months! Interest in cycling has gone through the roof."

Falmouth Packet:

However, the climate campaigners said that without effective lane division, and more vehicles now moving around with the easing of lockdown, it had "become once again a more dangerous activity."

The spokesperson added: "Many people - and animals - have enjoyed the fresher air and quieter streets of the lockdown and do not want to go back to the polluting, illness inducing fug of petrol and diesel vehicle fumes that had become the norm.

"A study by the Max Planck Institute in 2019 estimates that air pollution is responsible for around 64,000 early deaths per year in the UK, an increase from 39,000 per year in 2016.

"The Covid-19 pandemic will be defeated, but the bigger threat of the climate emergency will not go away unless we take serious action now and one way we can reduce our impact on the planet is to drive less and cycle more."

Joe Trevelyan, a resident of Truro contacted the organisers to say: "Since lockdown I’ve been able to go out on my bike for short trips in town with my children for the first time. It’s been great being able to do our shopping using bikes not a car – sadly we will be unable to continue to cycle safely, as the provision of bike lanes is just so poor and there’s too much traffic."