Oxford had one of the highest proportions of cyclists in England last year while there are fewer cyclists outside of the city than before the pandemic, new figures have shown.

The Active Lives Survey, which was complied by the Department for Transport, showed that 41.7 per cent of people in Oxford were cycling at least once a month in the year to November 2022.

This was one of the highest rates in the country but was still a fall from 44.7 per cent in 2019, before the start of the Covid pandemic.

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Outside of Oxford the number of people cycling at least once a month was far less, with only 23.7 per cent doing so in the Vale of White Horse, 22 per cent in South Oxfordshire and 14.3 per cent in West Oxfordshire.

Cycling UK – which campaigns for better access to cycling across the country – called the figures disheartening, especially given a spike at the height of the pandemic when fewer cars were on the road.

Duncan Dollimore, head of campaigns at Cycling UK, said: “This should be a wake-up call for a government that's slashed dedicated funding for cycling and walking by more than two thirds, and has been told in crystal clear terms by the National Audit Office that it can’t meet its own targets to increase levels of cycling without substantially increasing investment."

Provisional data from the Department for Transport – taken from traffic counts – shows 5 per cent fewer bikes on the road in June 2023 than a year before.

This is Oxfordshire: Cyclists at The Plain Photo: Tejvan Pettinger

Mr Dollimore said it was now an “imperative” that the government reflected on the figures and urgently reversed the cuts in the Autumn statement.

He said: "Multiple government policies recognise the carbon reduction, public health, air pollution and economic benefits which flow from more people cycling and walking, particularly for short journeys."

According to the Active Lives Survey, much of the dip in cycling across England has come from fewer people cycling for leisure – 13.1 per cent did so at least once a month in 2019, compared to 9.2 per cent last year.

Oxford saw a drop over the same period, from 23.2 per cent to 18.6 per cent.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Overall, the numbers of people choosing to walk or cycle increasing over the past year has returned to pre-pandemic levels and we are well on the way to half of all short journeys in towns and cities being walked or cycled by 2030.

"This has been supported by our investment of over £3 billion into walking and cycling to 2025,"