asked the Minister of Transport what has been spent in the last three years on the resurfacing of the cycle track on the A.64 between York and Malton; and what was the number of cyclists found to be using the cycle track at the last traffic census.

Over the last three financial years, expenditure on resurfacing the cycle track was £122, £67 and £6,000, respectively. At a census taken over one week in August 1961, 214 cyclists used the westbound track and 240 cyclists used the eastbound track.

Is my hon. and gallant Friend aware that this cycle track has now been down for 25 years and has really been very little used? Will he consider whether it is economical to spend fairly large sums on maintaining a track which is unused for most of the year, and would it not be better to convert it into a footpath?

This is always one of the considerations which we have in mind. I would point out that although cycle tracks are not widely provided these days, they still have considerable road safety value in certain circumstances. Where they have already been provided we want to be quite sure that their present value is negligible before removing them. In this instance it was decided that the tracks still have some value despite the rather low volume of cyclists using them.