THREE out of five adults (61%) in England think cycling on roads is too dangerous, according to Department for Transport (DfT) figures.

Women (68%) are more likely than men to agree (54%) with that statement but there was typically no difference in opinion between people aged 25-34 or 65 and older, the survey of 1,377 people found.

In Britain, the number of cyclists killed or seriously injured each year has increased by 29% from 3,191 in 2005 to 4,132 in 2018.

This comes amid a 32% rise in the number of miles cycled per person in England over the same period.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns at road safety charity Brake, said: "These findings reveal that most adults just don't think it's safe to cycle on our roads and more is clearly needed to be done to convince them otherwise.

"Whilst the Government's actions to encourage more people to cycle and keep them safe are welcome, they must go further.

"We need slower, safer speed limits, greater investment in segregated cycle lanes and drivers who behave dangerously removed from our roads."

DfT data also suggests the number of people in England walking at least once a week increased from 68% in 2015/16 to 70% in 2017/18.

Meanwhile, people walked an average of 210 miles last year compared with 192 in 2015 while the number of miles cycled rose from 53 to 58 over the same period.

Cycling and Walking Minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: "It is good news that people are walking more and cycling further than before. We need to keep this momentum going and we continue our ambitious plans to encourage more people to travel by bike or on foot.

"This is why we have doubled investment on active travel to around £2 billion - almost £7 per head - and published our landmark cycling and walking investment strategy in 2017 to help make cycling and walking the natural choice for shorter journeys."