Drivers urged - leave your cars at home

Drivers are being urged to leave their motors at home as part of a car-free day.

As part of In Town Without My Car! day, an international festival of environmentally friendly transport, families are being encouraged to walk, cycle or catch the bus into Norwich city centre and local towns on Monday.

Ahead of the day, Norfolk County Council will hold a stand at the Forum tomorrow offering local travel information, maps and free travel plan advice.

People who make a sustainable travel pledge will receive a gift and be entered into a prize draw to win Park and Ride tickets, bicycle locks, bicycle lights and other goodies.

Stevie Spencer, the county council's smarter travel choices officer, said: "We will be on hand to offer advice to people who would like to reduce their car use and provide information on other ways they can get around."

As part of the scheme, drama group Stopwatch Theatre has been touring schools, putting on a production to encourage pupils to walk, cycle and use the bus wherever possible.

The idea of the scheme is to make drivers across Europe explore other means of travelling and to question what town centre streets are really for.

Ali Clabburn, managing director of Liftshare, the Attleborough-based car sharing company which also matches up cyclists and walkers, said: "In Town Without My Car! day is the perfect opportunity for people to get out of their cars."

Rupert Read, Green Party city councillor, said he hoped the initiative would have a long-lasting effect.

He said: "I have a car, but I use it as little as possible. I find that cycling as much as possible is the best way."

But he warned the day could be "a mere tokenistic gesture" unless people looked at the long term.