Cycling up a one-way street will soon be legal in Chelsea

Kensington and Chelsea council is testing two-way access for cyclists on several residential roads with the scheme set to be extended across the borough if there is no increase in collisions.

New signs will advise cyclists where they are allowed to cut through and avoid the long circulatory one-way routes motor vehicles must take.

Road surfaces will not be changed and there will be no dividing line between cyclists and oncoming vehicles - instead they will be left to navigate their own paths.

The changes have been introduced partly because hundreds of cyclists were found to be regularly flouting the rules of roads.

Conservative leader David Cameron was photographed taking a detour up the one-way Dawson Place in Kensington in March.

Daniel Moylan, deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, said: "If this is what cyclists want to do and they are able do it safely, then we see it as our responsibility to adapt the legal position to allow them to do it legally.

"We are recognising the reality that cyclists prefer to take the shortest route through quieter streets. The alternative of having a policeman standing on the road to catch cyclists breaking the rules would be foolish and unworkable."

Mr Moylan said he would lobby the Department of Transport to alter its rules to allow no-entry signs to be adapted with the words "except cyclists". Currently the council will have to use blue signs indicating bicycles are permitted to travel, with the danger that they could be misinterpreted.

He added: "Cyclists are offered very little in terms of safety and convenience. I hope that our trial will encourage other boroughs and as a result cyclists will be much freer to travel around.

"It is absurd that we are being forced to put up signs showing flying motorbikes which are much less well understood and may result in more drivers disobeying them."

Roger Geffen, policy manager of the Cyclists' Touring Club, welcomed the scheme, saying it was unfair to force cyclists to comply with oneway systems designed to slow down or divert motorised traffic.

He said: "The alternative to cycling the wrong way down a one-way street is often to use a much less safe busy road."

The roads affected are Victoria Grove W8, Thackary Street W8, Old Court Place W8, Holland Street W8, and Gilston Road SW10.

The move is the latest radical measure the council has carried out in traffic management.

It completely rebuilt Kensington High Street, removing dozens of traffic signs and barriers keeping pedestrians from crossing the road in an attempt to reduce both congestion and accidents.

Research suggests the changes have been largely successful and the council is now pursuing a similar scheme for Exhibition Road.