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London’s deputy mayor for transport today attacked Westminster council over its opposition to the CS11 cycle superhighway, branding it “a disgrace”.

Former Labour MP Heidi Alexander also issued a plea for City Hall and the boroughs to work together to reduce the number of cycle deaths. Six cyclists have died on London’s roads this year.

Last Wednesday a cyclist was left fighting for her life after a collision at Old Street roundabout. In the same week Tory-run Westminster council launched court action to block the £25 million cycle superhighway, from Swiss Cottage to the West End.

Ms Alexander, who was appointed in May, told a travel conference: “In a week when a woman was in hospital fighting for her life, Westminster council stopped Transport for London from starting work on a scheme a few miles away to reduce road danger. It’s a disgrace. There is no other way to describe it.”

She added: “I can’t undo what happened last week but I will do everything in my power to ensure that we bring down the rate at which pedestrians and cyclists are killed and seriously injured on London’s streets.”

Referring to her time as a Lewisham councillor, when she ignored resident protests and removed a gyratory, she added: “I would not have been able to live with myself were a child to have died on a road where I had decided not to proceed with a safety scheme. Some might call that risk averse. I call it a moral responsibility.”

Tim Mitchell, a Westminster councillor, said “We are worried that CS11 in its current form will cause traffic displacement, increase congestion and lead to poorer air quality. We are not anti-CS11 or cycling, but we want TfL to take the time to deliver something that works for both cyclists and residents.”