CALLS for a cycle path to be built from Chepstow to Tintern are gathering pace with an online petition which has attracted over 1,800 signatories in two months.

It was started by Jennifer and Nik Peregrine from the Transition Chepstow group who discovered that children at the Pembroke Primary School Bike Club had nowhere safe to practice their cycling skills.

Now the group aims to give Chepstow a similar cycling infrastructure to places nearby, like Bristol, Bath, Newport and the Valleys.

Disappointed by a lack of progress on the path, the group set up the petition on May 2.

Mrs Peregrine said: “We started tweeting and sending it out on Facebook and soon 200 signatures a day came in.”

She added: “We want to make it link right through from Caldicot to Chepstow and on to the Severn Bridge.”

Supporters of the plan include the National Diving and Acting Centre director Darren Bryce who was involved with previous attempts to build the path.

He hopes to buy the section of the line running from Sedbury to Netherhope Lane from Network Rail and is in the process of revoking the lease Sustrans has with the company.

There has also been involvement from the community with Tidenham and Sedbury cubs and scouts helping to clear the first section of the proposed path under the guidance of the cubs and scouts group leader Steve Crabbe.

The plan has backing from Bristol Cyclists Touring Club, the Community Fund for Wales and Transition Chepstow.

Mrs Peregrine said: “The petition will run until we have enough signatures to persuade the Welsh Assembly and Monmouthshire County Council that this vital resource is long overdue.”

Neither the Welsh Government or Monmouthshire council have provided a statement about the cycle path.

For more information on cycling in the area and to sign the petition for the cycle path visit wyecycle.co.uk