A GREEN Party activist has called for 'better, safer options' for children when it comes to cycling after markings reminding people not to ride on the pavement were painted on a Kendal street.

The 'no cycling' signs were introduced to a stretch of around 100m in Shap Road close to The Queen Katherine School (QKS) over the Christmas period.

The move followed complaints from residents about cyclists using the pavement, which is narrow and is often boxed in by parked cars.

Shirley Evans, county councillor for Kendal, said there had been 'real problems' along the stretch of pavement.

"People coming out of their houses have had to leap back," she said.

"If they want to go down that side, they can get off their bike, walk it down that section."

But Kendalian and Green Party member Jon Owen said he felt the 'no cycling' signs represented the county council putting in 'obstacles' to sustainable travel in the town.

He said that children arriving at QKS from the Sandylands estate might consider using the 100m stretch to be the 'least worst' option for getting to and from school by bicycle.

A shared cycle and footway extends along the opposite side of Shap Road, but Mr Owen pointed out that children arriving at the road from Crescent Green had no safe and convenient way to access this en route to school in the morning.

He said the situation for children on their way home from school was also problematic. There is a convenient crossing point to allow them to access the cycle lane, but getting back across the road to head back to the Sandylands estate via Mint Street is more difficult, as the nearest crossing point is around 450m beyond the Shap Road-Mint Street junction.

As Crescent Green is now one way and cannot be accessed by car from Shap Road, Mr Owen suggested a solution might be to remove the crosshatching in the centre of the road and make the pavement wider to accommodate cyclists.

"Kendal's scale is perfectly suited to getting lots of car journeys to foot and on bike," he said.

"Twenty minutes' walk or 10 minutes' cycle gets you just about anywhere in it."

Cllr Keith Little, cabinet member for highways and transport at Cumbria County Council, said: "I would hope that any young people who are cycling to school, if that's what they are doing, do not ride on footpaths.

"We have put in some cycleways where we think it's advantageous, but it's not always possible to combine footways and cycleways."