Four Kent stations to offer fold-up bicycles for hire

The bikes available for hire collapse to the size of a briefcase

Rail users travelling from four Kent stations will soon be able to hire fold-up bicycles to take on the trains.

From the summer, Tonbridge, Ashford International, Maidstone East and Canterbury West stations will each have 20 lockers containing the bikes.

They collapse to the size of a briefcase and can be returned to any of the sites where they can be hired from.

Mark Antwis, of Brompton Dock, the firm providing them, said they could be rented for days or weeks at a time.

"The idea of our scheme is that you keep the bike with you for long periods of time... and take it on public transport.

"It's a great commuting tool, but it's also something used for shopping, for leisure - any occasion when you might need a bike," Mr Antwis said.

He added the booking system operated via mobile phones, and it cost £2.50 a day to hire one of the bicycles.

Brompton Dock plans to expand the folding bikes scheme to 22 towns across the UK by the summer.