UNIVERSITY Hospitals Dorset (UHD) has donated abandoned bikes left around the trust to the New Forest Bike Project.

Some 19 bikes were collected from the Royal Bournemouth Hospital and will now be repaired, restored, and reallocated by the bike charity to help people build their confidence and skills, while teaching important bike maintenance and educating on sustainability issues.

UHD travel team administrator Alison Walters said: “It’s great to see these abandoned bikes being recycled with a local community project.

"Many of our staff travel on bikes, so finding a new home for these abandoned ones means we have more space available so new cyclists can make the change to a sustainable mode of travel.”

Louis Bonney, project director from the New Forest Bike Project, said: “We are really pleased be working with our local hospitals to recycle their unused bikes. We want to help people stay on the road, ride safely and encourage sustainability.”