Rising petrol prices and a shift in travel habits could be responsible for the recent surge in bike sales at Halfords.

The company released its latest trading statement revealing that bicycle sales were up by 11.5 per cent in the 13 weeks up to July 1st.

It is believed that people are actively looking at cheaper and greener ways to commute to work as well as being “forced” to seek alternative means of transport because the cost of petrol is making it increasingly impossible for people to fill up their tanks every week.

Speaking to the Evening Standard, David Wild, chief executive of Halfords, said: “Cycling is so in tune with contemporary trends.

“For health and economy reasons more people are using bikes and they recognise that if they buy it from Halfords they get a good cycle for the amount they paid.”

The city of Manchester, which has just won the Local Sustainable Transport Fund, is looking to encourage more workers to take up cycling when it begins improving its biking infrastructure with the new pot of cash.