Kingston's floating cycle path helped win bid

A floating cycle path in the Thames has helped a London borough win £30m to create one of three "mini Hollands" in the outer suburbs.

Kingston's Thames Boardway is one of the ideas submitted in a funding contest staged by London mayor Boris Johnson.

The successful boroughs, Kingston, Enfield and Waltham Forest, will share an estimated £90m as part of the mayor's £913bn cycling vision for London.

Runners-up Bexley, Ealing, Merton and Richmond will each be awarded an estimated £2.5m.

Kingston's plan also involves a redesigned bike-friendly plaza outside the town's station and a new a Thames crossing for cyclists alongside a railway bridge.

London mayor Boris Johnson said: "Areas once terra incognito for the bicycle will, over time, become every bit as cycle-friendly as their Dutch equivalents - places that suburbs and towns all over Britain will want to copy."

Kingston Council leader Liz Green said: "Our plans will transform how people get around the borough on two wheels and help more people choose to cycle more often."

The grants were announced at a cycle summit at a City Hall.

London Assembly Green spokesman Darren Johnson called on the mayor to increase funding to the four runners-up.

He said: If there are four runners-up who have exceptional plans, then the Mayor should be finding the money to get fully behind them."