Ireland Business Matthew Ord

The popular Coca-Cola Zero Belfast Bikes initiative is to be extended to the city's three main hospitals.

Belfast City Council has approved the proposed expansion to the City, Mater and Royal Victoria Hospital sites in a move made possible by a £100,000 grant from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust.

The money will cover the capital costs of installing docking stations at the three sites, as well as the first year's running costs.

The council has also agreed a long-term strategy for the future expansion of the Belfast Bikes scheme.

Launched in April last year the scheme has proved a success across the capital. It allows the public to hire a bike and use it for traveling around the city in a similar vein to the popular 'Boris Bikes' in London. Coca-Cola Zero also sponsors bike share schemes in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway.

Councillor Declan Boyle, chairman of the Council's strategic policy and resources committee, said: "We're delighted how popular the Coca-Cola Zero Belfast Bikes scheme has become in such a short time, with more than 3,000 annual subscribers and nearly 2,000 casual subscribers since its launch at the end of April.

"We are very grateful to the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust for their generous assistance in making this latest expansion possible.

"The hospital sites are in areas of high footfall, with large volumes of staff and students travelling between the sites on a regular basis. Therefore, we anticipate that the additional stations will prove extremely popular and attract high numbers of users."

Belfast Trust chief executive, Dr Michael McBride, added: "The Belfast Bikes Scheme has proven very popular across Belfast and having bike racks in the vicinity of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast City Hospital and the Mater Hospital will provide a healthy and alternative travel option for staff and indeed others who need to travel between hospital sites during the course of their working day.

"We hope it will also contribute to reducing our carbon footprint."