IT was reported in The Press on January 24 that the council was considering giving free bikes to hundreds of children as a safer way to get to school.

Then in the following day’s edition, the council unveiled plans to make cuts in areas, including cycling tuition within schools.

Giving away free bicycles will ultimately cost the taxpayer as the cycles will initially need paying for, unless they are going to raid the police’s stack of stolen, unclaimed cycles and dish those out. Cycle shops’ income will ultimately suffer too.

But to cut the teaching of cycling in schools takes away a safety aspect all children need to learn; some children don’t have parents able or willing to teach them, so the school cycling course is a great start.

Giving children cycles and telling them to “get on their bike” to school is just a few hundred more accidents waiting to happen if they haven’t had safety lessons in the first place.

A Logan, Tennent Road, York.

• YOU recently placed an advert warning cyclists about the dangers of cars at T-junctions.

However, I believe that the advert should also contain that cyclists should have working light backs and front and reflective arm bands or reflective jacket.

I still see cyclists at night with no lights in York and they don’t seem to care about the danger to themselves.

Of course, if a motorist does not see them and a collision occurs, then no doubt the motorist will be blamed.

Furthermore, I believe we should have a campaign by the police against those cyclists who flaut the law and let’s see the numbers of those caught and fined published in The Press.

I believe they would soon see the light, if you’ll pardon the pun.

They could be given seven days in which to produce their cycle with lights fitted at their local police station.

TC Thompson, Stonethwaite, Woodthorpe, York.