RAIL bosses have handed over 40 repaired bicycles for NHS and key workers.

Southern and West Sussex County Council teamed up to fix the abandoned bikes as a “thank you” and a way of promoting sustainable travel.

Advanced nurse practitioner Fiona Sayers, who works with the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, has already seen the benefits with her new set of wheels.

She said: “I use it nearly every day and I love it. I have already felt the health benefits. Instead of driving my car to work in Worthing or the shops etc, I will now use my bicycle to get around.”

West Sussex’s Bikeability team was drafted in to help promote the scheme

The authority’s cycling training officer Ed Clark said: “We’ve had a team of six working on this project for about six weeks now. These are Bikeability instructors who, if it wasn’t for the coronavirus outbreak, would be working in schools and colleges, so instead are working from home, renovating bikes.

“The reaction and feedback when I’ve delivered bikes has been really positive. They were all frontline NHS staff who, after their work indoors, wanted to be out in the open for their journeys home and this has allowed them to do that.”

For more information search for Bikeability on the West Sussex County Council website.