Havering campaign groups are set to protest this Saturday to demand investment in the borough’s cycling infrastructure.

On September 11, Extinction Rebellion Havering and Havering Cyclists will kick off the protest from Harrow Lodge Park, ending at Romford Town Hall around midday.

This comes after the previous Let Havering Cycle protest led to no action, the groups claim.

However, Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Osman Dervish, said several grants have been applied for.

He said: “We have applied for several grants, including a request for funding from the Mayor of London to improve safety and cycling within the borough.

"Unfortunately, we have not yet received this vital funding."

Marking the year anniversary of the last demonstration, the protest aims once again to bring attention to what the activists allege is Havering Council's “inaction” on active travel and cycling over the past year.

Extinction Rebellion Havering's coordinator, Gina Must, who said she felt “let down” by the council, is encouraging anyone who wants to be able to “enjoy their streets” to take part.

Gina said: “We asked the council to invest in our streets, our active travel facilities and cycle lanes to help us reduce emissions to keep children and adults healthy and make our streets safer for them...

“We’ve seen no progress so we’re going out again to ask for investment and action – we want to see more investment in our streets so children and people feel safe cycling.”

A spokesperson for Havering Cyclists added: “Our view is that Havering has lost out repeatedly on previous funding seeing other boroughs such as Enfield and Kingston getting funding for a really decent cycling infrastructure.

“We believe that this is why Havering has been ranked bottom again this year in the Healthy Streets Scorecard.”

Cllr Dervish added that although the vital funding has not yet been received, a number of projects have been started, he said: "Thankfully, despite the delay, we have been able to start a number of projects including participating in TfL’s Healthy Street Officer programme, and continuing to support schools in the TfL STARS programme encouraging sustainable travel to and from school.

"We have also trialled School Streets schemes in a number of locations to help improve safety and air quality around schools and encourage children to walk or cycle if they can.

“We hope that we will receive the funding from the Mayor’s office so that we can finally deliver on our pledge to improve cycling and health across the borough.”