Sir – In his attempt to justify cycling in the Green Road (or any other) subway, Richard Mann of Cyclox refers to an Act of 1835 (Letters, August 23).

This Act can hardly have considered bicycles or subways. A subway is a continuation of a footway and it is thus an offence to cycle on one.

The local authority (with apparent acceptance by pedestrians) permits cycling on parts of some pavements out of consideration for the safety of cyclists. It is thus mean-spirited of any cyclist to regard notices asking them to dismount in some places as “cackhandedly highlighting a potential hazard”. Although they may be a nuisance to riders, they are a precaution in the interests of the safety of pedestrians as well as cyclists. Mr Mann blames our “forebears” for not having made the subways more spacious to accommodate cycling; but this would be because they assumed that cyclists would obey the law and walk and that there would be PCs around to see that they did.

But now, in order to make it easier for them to break the law, Cyclox wants the subways to be enlarged.

At the same time, Mr Mann admits that there is a ‘legal restraint’ that cyclists are not allowed to ride “carelessly or inconsiderately”. Unfortunately this is not observed by many cyclists and pedestrians are coming to accept that, wherever they walk, it is in their interests to be alert for cyclists approaching from any direction.

The more considerate cyclists are happy to observe a request to dismount for subways and to give priority to pedestrians on all footways and paths.

Robert Sephton, Abingdon