CYCLISTS have won a long battle to be allowed to cycle in one of York's footstreets near the Minster.

From tomorrow (August 28), cycling will be allowed on High Petergate, between Bootham Bar and its junction with Duncombe Place - but only in one direction.

Cyclists will be allowed to legally cycle on the footstreet towards the Minster during the pedestrian period of 10.30am to 5pm, seven days a week.

The official traffic order comes into effect tomorrow, but follows a trial of the route.

The trial to allow cyclists to bike down High Petergate when the road is closed to traffic during the day took place in October 2019.

At the time, a City of York Council report stated that there was already a “significant level of illegal cycling” on the street - with around 30 cyclists an hour biking down High Petergate.

It noted that despite High Petergate attracting "high volumes of pedestrians" there had been "no record of casualties linked to cycling during the footstreet hours since their introduction in 2000".

It added: "During the recent surveys no significant conflicts between cyclist and pedestrians were observed.”