THE summer ban on cycling along the seafront in Bournemouth is to be reviewed.

Under current rules bikes are not allowed on the promenade between 10am and 6pm in July and August.

But BCP Council's cabinet member for transport, councillor Andy Hadley, said he would be considering whether it was the “right thing” to continue it.

The restriction was brought in around the turn of the millennium in an attempt to improve the safety of people visiting the beach in the summer.

Dozens of people have been sent warning letters for breaching the ban in recent years and in 2018 a cyclist was ordered to pay £330 after they were caught.

Cllr Hadley has now suggested he will look at the possibility of scrapping it as part of efforts to encourage more people to use bikes.

“We get some very warm and busy days in June and as far as I’m aware there’s never been a problem with cyclists,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

“We need to look at whether the ban is the right thing and whether we can make better use of the beach.”

The issue was looked at “a number of times” by Bournemouth council but the scrapping of the restrictions was dismissed over concerns it would be ruined by “a handful of irresponsible cyclists”.

Former Bournemouth council cabinet member for transport, councillor Mike Greene, urged the council to instead focus more on improving clifftop routes.

“I would support getting rid of the restrictions if I had evidence that it would lead to a significant increase in the number of people cycling, but I’m not sure it would show that,” he said.

“This was looked at a number of times by Bournemouth council but it was felt that there would be incidents when the beach is very busy.

“Instead the council should look at continuing our work to improve routes like opening up the bridge at Alum Chine to cyclists.”

BH Active Travel Forum chairman Jason Falconer said the issue was “a tricky one” and that he favoured keeping the current arrangements.

“The difficulty we have here is there is only one single route for everyone along the promenade – if you go to Blackpool they have three and Brighton has two levels," he said. “I’d err on the side of saying ‘if it’s not broke don’t fix it’."

He said the council should instead look at creating a dedicated "linear cycleway" along the seafront.