During a cycle ride Bill Adam had difficulty getting his bike through a gate onto a cycleway and found the town’s newest housing estate was not very ‘cycle friendly’.

He also found a lack of cycle routes, and dedicated paths are so wide cars can easily drive down them.

Mr Adam, of Fraser Close, Daventry, said: “I have read in Daventry Calling [a Daventry District Council publication] how the ‘new Daventry’ will be designed to be environmentally friendly and will encourage everyone to walk or cycle and leave their cars at home.

“So I thought I would ride out to the newest housing estate [Middlemore] to see how this cycle friendly design measures up.

“I had some difficulty reaching it via Lang Farm's cycleway because the exit onto the A361 is narrower than my bicycle.”

He said he was ‘disappointed’ and ‘surprised’ to find no dedicated cycleways on Middlemore, apart from a 100-metre long reserved lane.

Mr Adam, who thinks the old railway line in the town would make a good route for cyclists, said: “Perhaps the footpaths are expected to double as cycle ways, although they are very narrow for this purpose, and are still not free from motor traffic [due to cars parked on kerbs].”

A cyclepath off Farnborough Drive linking Middlemore to the Heartlands Business Park has a ‘no entry except buses and cycles’ sign, but Mr Adam thinks it will be regularly ‘enjoyed’ by motorists because it is so wide.

Simon Bowers, corporate manager for development and property at the district council, said the gate on the Lang Farm cycleway was put up to prevent motorbikes using it.

He said it was still accessible for wheelchairs, pushchairs and bikes, although cyclists have to dismount.

Mr Bowers also said the council was looking into methods to prevent vehicles driving down the cyclepath leading to Heartlands, and that the old railway line is a key link in the creation of a planned cycle network.

He added: “Middlemore is a 20mph zone which has relatively low traffic flows, with roads designed to be shared by vehicles and cyclists.

“However, the plans for the area do include several cycle tracks, mainly to link it to other parts of the town.”