WORK has begun on a £29 million scheme to create the longest continuous cycleway in the north of England.

Construction has started on the 23km CityConnect cycling super-highway between Bradford and Leeds, dubbed the 'highway to health'.

Diggers have moved in at the Thornbury gyratory, Church Bank and Dick Lane in Bradford to create the path, which will be segregated from the traffic to improve safety for cyclists.

The work is being funded by the Department for Transport, Bradford and Leeds councils and transport body Metro.

Councillor Val Slater, executive member for transport at Bradford Council, said they hoped the scheme would encourage more people to take to two wheels.

She said: "That is one of the aims of the project. It is not only about encouraging existing cyclists, it's getting people out of their cars and onto alternative transport.

"It also has a health aspect - we do need people to be a little more active."

Around 80 to 100 staff from construction firm North Midland will be working on the scheme, which should be finished by the end of the year.

Operations manager Chris West said it was the longest cycle path the team had ever worked on.

Once the route is complete, cyclists will be able to travel from the Broadway shopping centre in Bradford city centre, through to central Leeds and further into Seacroft.

Transport chiefs hope up to 9,000 cyclists a day will use the route in ten years' time - around ten per cent of all journeys.

As part of the project, 14 miles of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal towpath is being upgraded between Shipley and Kirkstall.

The funding will also be used to create 20mph zones in communities along the route and create cycle-parking facilities.

More than 13,000 people took part in a consultation before work started, with the results leading bosses to tweak parking arrangements, give longer loading periods for nearby businesses and make alterations to crossings and bus stops.

More than 80 per cent of people who responded to the consultation were in favour of the idea.

And Cllr Slater said they hoped to keep traffic disruption to a minimum while work was going on.

She said: "I think as with any scheme, there is bound to be some disruption, but we would ask people to bear with us and look towards the end result. We all need to be a little more patient at times."