ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Cyclists caught riding unlit in the City of London after dark are to be handed free bike lights instead of a £50 penalty ticket in a new safety drive.

City of London Police said each year officers pull over a “sizable percentage of cyclists” who are “caught out” after the nights draw in.

Anyone who cycles through the Square Mile without lights after dark can receive a fixed penalty for committing a “moving offence”.

But offenders caught at certain spots in the City on Monday and Tuesday, after the clocks go back at the weekend, will be given safety lights for their bike.

The scheme will run between 4.30pm and 6.30pm on the Cycle Superhighway near Blackfriars Bridge, and between 5pm and 9pm on Tuesday near the junction of Moorgate and Ropemaker Street.

There will also be the chance of a reprieve for cyclists pulled over elsewhere in the City without lights — they can have the fine and ticket rescinded if they attend a cycling safety lecture.

Chris Hayward, chairman of the planning and transportation committee at the City of London Corporation, said: “We want to encourage safe cycling and having working lights on a bicycle at night is both a legal requirement and crucial to safety.

“I hope to see all the City’s cyclists lit up brightly over the coming winter.”