Jeremy Clarkson, the Top Gear presenter and one of Britain’s most outspoken motorists, has come out in praise of cycling, hailing Copenhagen’s cycling culture as “fan-bleeding-tastic” and comparing it to the streets of London where a state of “undeclared war” exists between cars and bicycles.

Clarkson, who was criticised last year for saying that cyclists “deserve” to be cut up by cars and subjected to road rage while riding on their “silly Victorian distractions”, wrote in the Sunday Times this weekend: “In Copenhagen, [cycling] is just a pleasant way to get about. Nobody wears a helmet. Nobody wears high-visibility clothing. You just wear what you need to be wearing at your destination.”

He adds: “The upshot is a city that works. It’s pleasing to look