A student-led petition to make safe cycling a priority at the new Kenilworth School has been signed by over 1,000 people in less than two weeks.

The 'Pedal to Protect' petition, started by friends Isadora McAinsh, 13, and George Bell, 14, is calling on Warwickshire County Council to make sure there are safe cycling routes to the new school.

Due to open in 2023, the new Kenilworth School is being built on Glasshouse Lane and will eventually be surrounded by over 600 new houses.

Isadora, who attends Kenilworth School, and George, at King Edward VI, said they realised during the pandemic how bad cycling routes in the town were and that more needed to be done to make cycling safer.

"During lockdown, when you could only meet with one other person, we used to go cycling and walking together and got chatting about the environment, climate and debating things together," they said.

"We found it ridiculous that you couldn't cycle through Abbey fields and especially to the pool as there were bike racks already there. 

"We realised how little there was for cyclists in Kenilworth and wanted to be able to get around safely."

The two had initially planned a protest in Abbey Fields but had to scrap their plans due the rising Covid-19 cases.

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Not to be deterred, they decided that a petition was the best way to get their message across.

Having originally shared it on social media, the two then attended the Kenilworth Christmas Market where the petition hit the 1,000 signature mark online and on paper.

"We have been overwhelmed," they said.

"The petition has over 1000 signatures (online and paper) in less than two weeks.

"At the town centre Christmas market we had nearly 300 signatures from people just in four hours. 

"It's great that the people of Kenilworth are behind us."

The keen cyclists now hope to gather more support at the school's green day today (December 15) and will present the petition to WCC in the new year.

To sign the petition, please follow this link.

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