A GOVERNMENT minister backed calls for a “cycle hub” at Oxford railway station with double the number of bicycle spaces planned.

Baroness Kramer, Minister of State for Transport and Liberal Democrat peer, said “more imaginative” solutions were needed than those proposed by Oxfordshire County Council.

In a masterplan for the station’s £75m redevelopment, the Conservative-led authority has proposed raising the number of bicycle parking spaces from 600 to 1,200.

But the Lib Dems say the authority should aim for 2,500. Baroness Kramer said: “You only have to look at Oxford station to see there are bikes everywhere. I am hoping that the plan that comes forward does not just accommodate what is there and instead recognises that when you put in new facilities people will start using them.”

She said cycle hubs in cities such as Sheffield and Brighton included cycle repair and hiring businesses and community facilities such as showers and changing rooms.

She made the comments yesterday in support of Lib Dem prospective candidate for Oxford West and Abingdon Layla Moran.

County council leader Ian Hudspeth said: “We have to deliver a transport strategy for all modes of transport, not just one that people pick for electioneering purposes.”

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