London is set for its biggest ever car-free day after 24 boroughs agreed to close streets to join the global event.
The centrepiece of Sunday’s celebrations, backed with £1 million from City Hall, will be the closure of Tower Bridge and Bank junction to allow “green” festivals at both locations.
Events start with yoga on the bridge at 7.30am, followed by a classic cycle ride to Bank.
About 18 miles of residential streets will be closed to form 340 “play streets”.
Fifteen boroughs, including Waltham Forest and Ealing, will hold their own festivals.
Mayor Sadiq Khan, writing in the Standard today, said he hoped it will be the “first of many” such events: “The point of Car Free Day is to inspire Londoners to get out of their cars in their daily lives, and to walk, cycle or use public transport instead.
“No matter how necessary, or reasonable, the action we take to tackle air pollution and climate change is, sadly there will always be some who blindly side with the car lobbyists and accuse us of a ‘war on motorists’.”
