CYCLISTS will be able to get to the Amex, the County Ground and even the Royal Sussex on a new £1.5 million bike scheme.

All but one of the 50 proposed sites for the “Boris Bikes” scheme have been revealed by Brighton and Hove City Council.

But not everybody is looking forward to the imminent opening of the scheme this summer with existing bike hire companies in the city, operating without public subsidy, concerned about the impact on their own businesses.

Each hub for the scheme, which will have 430 bikes available to cyclists from £2 per journey, is designed to be 500 metres apart.

Council officers said hub locations have been chosen to limit the loss of car parking spaces but nine sites will result in a loss including six spaces in parking zones with waiting lists.

The losses will reduce parking income by £24,000 and effectively cancel out the estimated council revenue from the scheme.

Nineteen objections have been submitted to the location of hubs with complaints about how it will block a street food business in Shaftesbury Place and increase congestion and street clutter in Whitecross Street while general concerns have been raised about the scheme’s business case.

The bike hire is being subsidised with £1.16 million from the Local Growth Fund and £290,000 from the council’s local transport plan.

The contract has been awarded to Hourbike who run similar schemes in Reading and in Oxford which they stepped in to rescue after previous operator Grand Scheme Bike Share went into liquidation.

Sites rejected from the final list include Hove Library because of its “potential closure”, the King Alfred due to its redevelopment, and the University of Brighton’s Grand Parade building because of its location within the Valley Gardens project.

Mark Hedger, founder of Brighton Sports Co bike hire, said: “I’m Brighton born and bred, I started this up from nothing five years ago to bring something that was not here before and now some other company from outside is coming in.

“There are three bike ride hire companies already in the city. If the council had come to us first I’m sure we could have put our heads together to deliver something on this scale.

“My concern is that it will be supported for the first three years and then struggle on its own. By that time it might have forced other businesses to close and then Brighton will have no bike hire.

“In London and New York it relies on a huge sponsorship subsidy so if it’s not financially viable in a big city like London. Can it work here in Brighton where it is so seasonal?”