JUST because national Bike 2 Work day is over doesn't mean that staff at York's Norwich Union get back in their cars...

About 200 cycle daily to the head office in Wellington Row or its cycle park in Yorkshire House in Rougier Street.

And as a result of last Wednesday's frenetic activity at both places, there are now four pool bikes run by the life assurance company which was last year's winner of the Evening Press Environmental Business Of The Year.

Norwich Union took possession of the vehicles from Eamonn Addison of the Recyclist Project which revamps stray bicycles from the police store.

Another result of the day which echoed into the future was a sense of greater safety for many of the cyclists who took advantage of a free "MoT" by "Dr Bike", the cycle mechanic from the Cycle Heaven store in Bishopthorpe Road.

He managed to check out 17 bicycles for a detailed 31-point health check in just two hour set aside for lunchbreaks at the Yorkshire House cycle park.

Peter Wallace, Norwich Union's environment manager, said: "This all forms part of our wider aim to generate more environmental awareness within our company."

A survey by Business In The Community published last week with the New Economics Foundation found that 94 per cent of respondents wanted all large companies to adopt social and environmental reporting practices before the next general election.

Mr Wallace said: "Norwich Union is one of a growing number of companies which regard environmental and community investment as good business investment."