OXFORD City Council has been handed a cash pot to step up the clearance of abandoned bikes littering the city centre.

The council was given £15,000 by transport chiefs at Oxfordshire County Council in April to double the number of annual city-wide sweeps the cash-strapped authority carries out — from two to four.

Two weeks ago an Oxford Mail inspection of bike racks found 40 abandoned bikes in the city centre during a three-hour period.

The inspection also uncovered an abandoned bike tagged by the city council in November threatening removal if it was not claimed within 14 days.

The ladies’ Raleigh cycle was still chained up in Broad Street — almost seven months after it was first identified.

Ian Hudspeth, the county council’s cabinet member for transport and infrastructure, said: “There are a lot of cycle spaces in the city of Oxford.

“If you look at some of them, there are bikes locked up there which are clearly abandoned and they should be tagged and sorted out.

“I have quite frequent meetings with cycle representatives in Oxford and there was a call for more cycle parking in Oxford.

“To my mind it should be possible to free up the space we have already got.

“I expect the programme to work. I wouldn’t expect bikes that have been tagged in November to still be there.”

Two weeks ago when the Oxford Mail asked the city council if it received any cash to clear up abandoned bikes, officers refused to answer the question.

In March, Cyclox committee member Simon Banks published a report in which he calculated 200 of the 1,194 cycle parking places in the city were blocked by abandoned cycles.

He said: “It isn’t necessarily the money that will make the difference, but the political will and whether the council officers have the will to implement it.

“Cycle parking isn’t a money spinner for councils like car parking, but it is part of the retail fabric and organisation of the city and it needs to be maintained.”

John Tanner, the city council’s board member for a cleaner, greener Oxford, said: “We are grateful for the money, which has enabled us to double the number of big sweeps we carry out this year.

“Our improved service will free up more space for people wanting to use bicycle racks in Oxford.

“The city council would like to see more bike racks in Oxford as well as a joined-up network of cycle routes across the whole city."

“No system is perfect – the important thing is we’re checking up abandoned bikes twice as often as we were and we’re reviewing how our policy works.

“I want to know, are we doing it the best way, the cheapest way and the most effective way.”

The bike in Broad Street has been removed.

Since the beginning of the month, the city council has tagged 27 bikes, all of which have been identified as abandoned.