CYCLOX, Oxford’s cycling pressure group, wants riders to be given priority at traffic lights across the city.

At the Bike to the Future event at Oxford Town Hall, the group’s chairman James Styring called for a radical shake-up of facilities in the city – demanding a revised cycle network, a “cycling hub” and the introduction of a comprehensive bike hire scheme – to bring Oxford in line with progressive European cities.

The idea is to emulate facilities commonplace in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Paris, and the Swiss city of Basel.

At the heart of its plans is a revised city centre cycle network, with Cyclox lobbying for money to upgrade existing routes.

Cyclox wants cyclists to be given an easier ride – with the installation of special filter traffic lights, avoiding the need to stop at some red signals – such as those at the junction of Parks Road and South Parks Road.

In the city centre, the group wants to create a so-called cycling hub – a dedicated space where several hundred bikes could be left, securely locked and monitored by CCTV, in an area containing a repair shop. Such a hub already exists in Cambridge.

The plans would be paid for with government cash and introduced between 2011 and 2016 with the aim of reducing the fear of cycling in Oxford and “putting those on bikes first”.

Cyclox wants to work with Oxfordshire County Council, which is currently drawing up its third local transport plan covering the same period, and will submit a bid for government cash.

Mr Styring said: “When you cycle around Oxford there is nothing more annoying than the road narrowing and a sign appearing saying ‘end of cycle lane’.

“We are in the process of drawing up a connected network around the city, without holes or barriers.

“We shouldn’t be asking cyclists to stop unnecess-arily. We need to make cycling as easy and as convenient as possible.

“It is workable, and I am confident the next round of government money will be cyclist-friendly.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council said: “The council has a close relationship with Cyclox and is aware of its aspirations.

“There are already dual cycle routes in some parts of Oxford with facilities on main roads and quiet routes in parallel.

“We’re happy to continue to work with Cyclox to explore what might be possible with the assistance of national funding in coming years.”