A new survey has revealed half of adults in the UK believe their local roads are too dangerous to cycle on.

Conducted for the BBC, the poll reveals this attitude tends to be prevalent among members of the older generations - 61 per cent of those aged 65 and over hold the view, compared to 45 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds.

In addition, only 34 per cent of those surveyed agreed roads in their local area are well designed to be safe for cyclists.

Martin Lucas-Smith of the Cambridge Cycling Campaign said many cyclists feel unsafe due to narrow cycle lanes and badly maintained roads.

"We'd like to see proper allocation of space on these roads which can almost always be achieved simply by a bit of redesign, so people can cycle safely and easily," he added.

Although the Tour de France starts in Yorkshire this weekend, just one in five of those polled said the event had encouraged them to cycle more.