Environmental activists have planned a new protest to protect cyclists who they say are "risking their lives" to get around in an eco-friendly way.
Protesters from Extinction Rebellion North East have announced plans to form a 'human chain' along the border of a Gosforth cycle lane.
The protest is set to take place on Friday, June 21, on Gosforth High Street, between 6.45am and 8.45am.
Members of the group with stand hand-in-hand along the line separating bikes and cars, to "highlight the need for safe, protected, segregated cycle routes".
The group say they are: "Calling on Newcastle City Council to take rapid, ambitious action and adopt specific commitments following its declaration of a climate emergency ."
The group has previously staged 'slow cycle' protests during rush hour to draw attention to their cause, but say this demonstration is designed not to cause disruption to any road users.
They believe better protection for cyclists and more established cycle routes could lead to more people choosing to use their bikes to get around the city.
They say just 2% of journeys are made by bikes in Newcastle, whereas cities like Copenhagen have a bigger network of cycle lanes and more than half of journeys involve cycling.
A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion North East said: "Currently, people on bikes are separated from passing double-decker buses and cars by nothing more than paint.
"People are quite literally risking their lives in order to get around our city.
"If the sheer barbarism of the situation weren’t bad enough, it’s really holding us back in terms of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions."
