A MAN who rode his bike to church and ‘loved every minute of it’ is the winner of a competition to go car-free for a day.

To promote World Car Free Day on September 22, Vale of White Horse District Council ran a competition asking people to tell the council what car-free activity they did to be in with a chance to win £50 of travel vouchers.

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Some people went on a charity dog walk, others walked and biked to family get togethers, while one person said they just stayed in bed.

The winner, drawn from the entries by the council chair Cllr David Bretherton, was John Green from Grove.

He wrote: “I rode my bicycle to church. First time since I was 15. My chain fell off and I walked with greasy hands., I loved every minute of it. I plan to do it every weekend that it’s not snowing or pouring with rain and there was no trouble finding parking too.”

World Car Free Day has been running for 25 years, always on September 22.

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Jenny Hannaby, cabinet member for the environment at Vale District Council, said: “Evidence shows a lot of air pollution comes from our cars and the aim of the competition and car free day itself is to highlight what is possible for some people (not all) without using their cars.

“Congratulations to the winner, it sounds like he and others had a lot of fun (and some exercise) by taking alternative forms of transport for the day.”