Students are clearing the ground for a new cycle path - and clearing the way to a sustainable future for Hereford.

The path will link their college at Holme Lacy with the city centre and the Folly Lane campus.

Councillor Brian Wilcox, cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "This is a much-needed route and hopefully students will use it as a safe, easy way to travel to the centre of Hereford."

The path will pass through the Rotherwas industrial estate to encourage people working there to get on their bikes.

The council says cyclists get to work quicker, arrive with a clearer head and feel fitter. They feel richer too, as £2 a day spent on fares and petrol adds up to a saving of £500 a year.

Will Vaughan, who rides and operates Hereford Pedicabs, is one person who will be using the new track. He said: "I'm very happy - we'll be able to cycle cargo to industrial estates in Rotherwas quicker and cheaper than vehicles.

“It’s good for us and good for companies who have to keep track on carbon emissions nowadays."

Herefordshire Council put £350,000 towards the costs of the path to match lottery funding. A group working on a five year plan for cycle paths in the city includes Hereford Wheelers, Cycle Hereford, Hereford Pedicabs, Herefordshire College of Technology, Hereford Primary Care Trust, Hereford Chamber of Commerce and some community associations. They will be working on improved safety and paths linking schools to encourage more children to cycle.

The government claims that it is taking cycling seriously and has awarded £140 million in cross-departmental funding. The money is to help half a million children cycle to school safely, and tackle health issues such as obesity, cancer and heart disease.

Ruth Kelly, secretary of state for Transport, said: "Cycling brings many benefits, both for the individual in terms of health and fitness and for the local community, as it helps ease congestion and improve local air quality."

A total of £47 million from the fund awarded to a ‘cycling cities’ scheme was so popular that over half the transport departments in the UK applied to join.

Cycle Hereford, which campaigns for cyclists, hopes the new path will make the city centre less dangerous to cross as well as solving Hereford’s traffic problems.

Activist Martin Gilleland, a postman who rides one of the city’s 70 postbikes, said: "Early morning is the only time to enjoy cycling in Hereford before the centre is closed.

“It shouldn't be closed to bikes - in other cities such as Copenhagen cyclists and pedestrians co-exist. We'd better get used to it before the fuel runs out."

One of the symbols of Hereford is the statue of Elgar with his Sunbeam bicycle in the grounds of Hereford Cathedral.

Much of his music was inspired by cycling around Hereford and the surrounding countryside.

Rosa Burley, his cycling companion, once said: "As we rode he would often become silent and I knew some new melody, or more probably some new piece of orchestral texture, had occurred to him."

The irony of the 'no cycling' signs at all entry points to the Cathedral Close would not have been lost on the great composer and cycling enthusiast.

By Katherine Amor