A TEACHER rode non-stop for eight hours to support new safety measures on a busy cycle path.

Dave Dyer, a maths and science teacher at The Cherwell School in Oxford, continuously cycled up and down the Marston Ferry Road path to fundraise for new signage.

The Cherwell Travel Action Group, a group of parents and staff at the school including Mr Dyer, want to buy a vehicle-activated 'slow down' sign to alert drivers who break the speed limit nearby.

Mr Dyer took on the challenge before the end of term last month, cycling the equivalent of 220km or 136 miles.

Cherwell has gained a reputation as a cycling school, and believes no other school in the UK has a higher proportion of pupils cycling to school.

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Almost 60 per cent of pupils regularly cycle to class - 20 times the national average - and most use the Marston Ferry Road path to do so.

More children are expected to use the route when the Swan School opens in September, which will temporarily be sited at The Cherwell while the permanent building is finished.

Mel de Freitas, co-chair of the Cherwell Travel Action Group (CTAG), said: "The Swan School temporary site is being built next door to Cherwell School's South Site, and that taken together with Oxford's exploding population, means we feel our stretch of the Marston Ferry Road is too dangerous at present.

"Our long-term aim is to turn our stretch of the Marston Ferry Road into 20mph zone, but our short term goal is to put up a vehicle-activated sign which will flash when vehicles go over the current 30mph speed limit."

She said Mr Dyer deserves 'huge congratulations' for the feat, adding: "It was very important because it communicates our desire for safer and more sustainable travel for our students."

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Writing in the Cherwell's end-of-term newsletter, Nicola Small, the school's chair of governors, said: "We were all in awe at the tremendous cycle ride that Mr Dyer, one of our staff governors, undertook to raise funds for speed signs outside the school.

"Mr Dyer will become our climate champion on the governing body in the forthcoming year, working with others across the school to minimise wastage and reduce our carbon footprint."

CTAG, which campaigns to make transport around the school safer and more sustainable, says there have been collisions between cars and students on the cycle path.

Vehicular access to the school cuts across the cycle lane, as will access to the new Swan School further along Marston Ferry Road.

The estimated cost of the sign is £2,500 and anybody who would like to donate can contact ctag@cherwell.oxon.sch.uk.