Richmond Council has provided an extra £364,000 to fund the building of a new green 'cycle superhub' for 700 bikes at the rail station.

This figure comes on top of some £300,000 that had already been budgeted for the scheme, which has suffered a series of delays.

The building of the superhub is part of a wider effort to put cycling at the heart of Richmond's recovery from the pandemic.

A series of wide-ranging changes are planned to encourage and improve the safety of cycling, while improving air quality and the environment.

The hope is that the superhub will be used by commuters using the rail station.

It is also expected that visitors and shoppers to the town centre will use it, rather than attaching their bikes to railings and posts, so cluttering up the streets.

The multi-storey superhub will have a smart technology system in place advising users of available spaces in real time.

It will be delivered in partnership with South Western Railway (SWR) with investment from both Richmond Council and the Department for Transport.

Richmond Council has committed £364,863 to the project, on top of an initial £300,000 investment, while the Department for Transport has allocated £2.7m.

The additional funding will come from Richmond Council's Climate Change budget.

The hub will have Photovoltaic Panels (PV Solar Panels) to provide a sustainable energy source to power the hub

A system to capture and reuse rainwater to service the hub within the maintenance areas for the cleaning of bikes

The project is expected to begin work in August 2022 and to be completed in March 2023.

Cllr Alexander Ehmann, Chair of the Transport and Air Quality Services Committee, said: "As a Council we are committed to providing more active travel options for our residents. I am delighted that funding has been agreed between all parties concerned to ensure the delivery of the Richmond Station bicycle hub.

"We know that Richmond Station remains one of the busiest public transport links in the borough.

"The delivery of a new bicycle hub will help to reduce resident's reliability on cars and reduce unnecessary journeys being made by car, making it easier to choose active travel options and helping to reduce congestion and improving local air quality."

SWR said: 'We are committed to installing a 700 space cycle hub at Richmond station, which is set to give a boost to transport integration and connectivity in the local area.

'We are sorry that, due to the pandemic and other factors, this project is taking longer to complete than first envisaged.'