CYCLISTS in north Oxfordshire will be able to use a new canal bridge, after the county secured its share of a £50m Lottery project.

The national 'green' project, Connect2, submitted by environmental travel group Sustrans, won the Big Lottery Fund vote, which was televised across the UK. The scheme was voted for by viewers - making it the country's biggest cash vote competition.

As part of the scheme, £200,000 will go to Banbury to finance a bridge over the canal near Bankside.

The rest of the money will fund 78 projects around Britain.

John Grimshaw, chief executive of Sustrans, said: "The real winners will be those thousands of people who will now be able to walk or ride to their shops, schools, workplaces and each other every day."

In Banbury, the project will provide a safe off-road route along the canal towpath for all users, including those with buggies and wheel- chairs.

It will connect Bankside and the proposed College Fields estate with the town centre and railway station, and link Banbury with the countryside.

The local steering group is chaired by Ian Hudspeth of Oxfordshire County Council, and includes representatives from British Waterways, Sustrans, Banbury Town Council, Inland Waterways, Banbury Chamber of Commerce, Cherwell District Council, and Chiltern Railways.

Mr Hudspeth, the county council's cabinet member for transport, said: "We encouraged people to vote for the Sustrans bid.

"But the people of Banbury could see for themselves that this scheme would bring great advantages and have shown a real community spirit in joining others around the country in casting their vote."

In the TV show, four projects went head-to-head to bid for the grant.

The other three were based at the Eden Project, in Cornwall, Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, and the Black Country, in the West Midlands.