RESEARCHERS at Oxford Brookes University who studied how older people in the UK experience cycling have been shortlisted for a national award.

The team are nominated in the Academic Award category at the 2017 Royal Town Planning Institute’s (RTPI) Awards for Research Excellence.

They have been recognised for the cycle BOOM research project – a three-year study looking at how older people's experience cycling affects independence, health and wellbeing.

Dr Tim Jones, reader at the School of the Built Environment, led the cycle BOOM study. He said: “Our research demonstrated that older people who currently cycle, or who have tried cycling, recognise the positive benefits it can make to their health and wellbeing, however they find infrastructure in the UK generally unsupportive of their needs."

He added, in the future, cities and towns needed to be designed with this in mind.

Winners will be announced on September 12.