Council bosses have revealed plans to run cycle lanes along three more main roads in Leicester.

Officials have begun to create a network of segregated and protected cycle routes across the city and have secured Government cash to carry out future work.

Some motorists have condemned the council for taking road space away from cars, lorries and vans and giving it over to cyclists, but the council says it believes its approach will help cut the congestion affecting many of the major routes in and out of the city.

Deputy city mayor Councillor Adam Clarke said in a recent meeting that cycle lanes had already been installed in Newarke Street, Welford Road and Belgrave Gate.

He pointed to work already under way to provide £3.9 million of cycle lanes along the A6 London Road and a recently announced project to connect Victoria Park to the city centre via Lancaster Road.

He went on to outline a planned bike lane alongside the A594 inner ring road at St Matthew’s Way as part of work to improve air quality in the area.

The councillor added that future work would also create further segregated cycle lanes in Belgrave Gate North, and Abbey Park Road.

“Our strategy is to create a comprehensive network of joined-up routes across the city as funding becomes available," he said.

“We want high quality, safe and segregated cycleways.”

Coun Clarke said a successful bid for Government cash from its Transforming Cities fund would pay for the work.

He told LeicestershireLive: “At the moment, we have identified the routes we want to improve.

“There are no detailed plans yet, but we will be moving forward with them pretty quickly as the funding is available for this year.”