A group of Fenland parents have written to Santa as part of their campaign to establish a safe cycle route between Guyhirn and March.

In the letter, they explain how families are "solely at the mercy" of the local transport infrastructure as there are few safe cycle paths in Fenland and have asked Santa not to send their children cycles this Christmas.

"We hope, through our campaign, that Guyhirn will be connected to March via a safe cycling route, to enable our families to access the opportunities that would be given through access to the train station at March," the letter says.

The letter comes following a meeting between the group and the mayor of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Dr Nik Johnson, on November 16

During the meeting, Dr Johnson gave his support for the campaign, and explained that improving connectivity across the Fens through active travel is a mayoral priority.

Representatives from Cambridgeshire County Council also explained that a consultation of key stakeholders will be launched in January 2024, to understand whether there is appetite for active travel routes to be established in the area.

Commenting on the group’s campaign, Anna Williams, communications officer at CamCycle, said: "Camcycle has been pleased to support Fenland Parent Power with their campaign for a new cycle route between March and Guyhirn.

"We know just how transformative it will be for local families, opening up educational, work and social opportunities.

"At the moment, cycling levels in Fenland are the lowest in Cambridgeshire, despite the district having the highest level of non-car ownership outside the cities of Cambridge and Peterborough.

"It’s time to change that and give everyone better transport choice and our young people increased independence."

Maciej Stachurski, Fenland Parent Power leader, explained why the group have written to Santa: "The mayor himself suggested putting pressure on officials, and that's exactly what we'd like to achieve with our quirky letter to Santa.

"We would also like to raise public awareness of how dangerous our country roads are without the cycle lanes which are automatically added to every new road development across Europe but for some reason are not included in UK road planning."

Speaking after his meeting with the group, Dr Johnson said: "Increasing people’s access to safe, active travel routes around the Fens is a top priority for the combined authority, and for me personally.

"This event was about listening, hearing directly from parents how we can work together to improve opportunities for their children and young people, with safe active travel infrastructure that joins up with reliable public transport."