BRIGHTON’S bike share scheme has been one of the company’s most successful projects, according to its boss.

The most recent figures show more than 4,000 people have signed up to the Life bikes scheme since it launched two weeks ago, with an average of three trips per day on each of the 200 bikes available in Brighton and Hove.

The figures have been met with joy from organiser Tim Caswell.

Mr Caswell, who owns Hourbike, the company behind the scheme, said: “We are very pleased and the figures are even better than we expected.

“Brighton is a city with a strong cycling culture so it is no surprise.

“In terms of usage per bikes, these are the highest figures we have seen out of all our projects.”

The statistics cover the period from September 1 to September 13, with the total number of sign-ups standing at 4,061.

There were 6,860 trips in the first 12 days, and a total of 13,192 miles cycled.

Mr Caswell said it was not down to luck that Brighton was the company’s number one city to date.

He said: “If you compare Brighton with Northampton or Liverpool, the cycling culture is much stronger here.

“It makes sense to me that the scheme is doing so well.

“It was already quite popular before we launched, with a lot of people showing interest.

“I am pleased with where we are so far.”

The night before the bike scheme was launched, organisers said more than 300 people had signed up.

Despite the instant success of the scheme, Mr Caswell is not getting ahead of himself and is focused on the future.

He said: “Getting through winter is going to be the next challenge.

“We have to see how many people keep riding the bikes when the weather starts getting bad and start understanding people’s needs.

“We also need to know where people want the next hubs to be so that we can start planning for our next move.”

There are currently 35 parking hubs for the bikes dotted around the city, with another 15 to be installed by the end of the month.

They will house 450 Life bikes when they are all ready for the streets.

The pale green bicycles attained their nickname, Life bikes, from Hourbike, as a tribute to the scheme’s sponsor, Life Natural Spring Water.

A heat map from last Wednesday showed the seafront was the most popular route among Life bike users throughout the day.