A COUNTY resident has raised concerns that council adverts on buses which promote cycling do not show people wearing a helmet.

Herefordshire Council has been promoting the use of bikes and is keen to get people moving in more healthy ways.

And they have taken out adverts on local buses which encourage cycling.

But local Tom Pennington says they should be encouraging people to wear a helmet when they are cycling.

“I was just out and about in the Hereford traffic and noticed a rather large advertisement on the back of a bus, choose how you move was the caption with a gentleman on a bicycle without a helmet on,” he said.

“Yes it’s great Herefordshire Council are trying to encourage us to move more but please do it with a helmet on your head.”

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said the use of helmets while cycling in the UK is not compulsory.

“The wearing of helmets is a contentious issue with industry experts, interest groups and numerous research studies failing to reach agreement,” he said.

“There is agreement on the need to improve protection and safety for cyclists and also on the need to encourage more cycling as way of increasing activity and health in the general population and reducing congestion.

“The debates and disagreements are about how both can be achieved and specifically, whether making the wearing of helmets compulsory will reduce the number of people cycling.

“There is international evidence to show that many people stop riding as a result of such a requirement, and others are put off cycling completely, which amounts to a serious impact on activity levels and health.

“We try to encourage safe and confident riding. We provide free Bikeability training for year 6 primary school children and the children are required to wear helmets for the Level 2 on-road training.

“We also provide free lessons for adults, promote the wearing of hi-visibility clothing and we encourage trainees to consider wearing a helmet but we cannot require that they do.”