Wandsworth Council plans to bring in hire bikes to the borough could cost £2m – despite promises it would cost Wandsworth nothing.

The Barclays Cycle Hire bikes will come to the borough next year, with plans to install them in Clapham Junction Station, and the Mayor of London has said the scheme would be of no cost to taxpayers.

But three local authorities may have to contribute towards it, with Wandsworth, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith & Fulham, contributing £2m each to the project, it has emerged.

A council document said: “The council’s contribution to the cycle scheme will be reduced by the value of land used for the 60-70 docking stations and the repair/storage facility. This is not expected to be substantial so finances approaching the £2m will still need to be identified.”

A council spokesman said: “Sponsorship from Barclays Bank would cover the vast
majority of the expansion costs and the council’s contribution would be met through a Transport for London grant and a levy on local development sites, not by council
taxpayers.”

By contributing to the scheme the council will release £25m from Barclays in additional sponsorship.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: “The Mayor has asked Transport for London to prepare plans for a westward expansion of the scheme through the boroughs of Wandsworth, Hammersmith & Fulham, Lambeth and Kensington & Chelsea.

"Wandsworth has not made a contribution to date, and any such funding would be dependent upon the scheme expanding to the area.” 

The announcement prompted outrage from Wandsworth Against Cuts campaigners.

A spokesman said: “Recently a story broke about a number of London councils having to bail out the so-called Boris Bike programme.

“At the same time this council is trying to save a small fraction of that amount by cutting vital staffing from adventure playgrounds, trying to offload libraries from its books and the latest attack is to pulling funding from school crossing patrols.”

Wandsworth Cycling Campaigners (WCC) welcomed the move, but called on the council to improve road safety.

Speaking on behalf of WCC Simon Merrett said: “We think the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme is a great way to normalise cycling – to make it easy for people of all shapes and sizes to cycle the short journeys for which cycling is ideally suited.”

Councillors will vote on whether to sanction the £2m expenditure this autumn.