THE coast to coast cycle path is soon to have a new stop-off point in Cumbria as work on a £27,000 project gets underway.

Work to connect the town of Cleator Moor with two sections of the route is set to begin this week.

The two paths from Jacktrees Road and Leconfield Industrial Estate, currently used as informal access points to the track, will be improved to create multi-user paths to fully establish the connections.

Work on the Jacktrees Road path is scheduled to start today and take up to four weeks. Once it is completed, the Leconfield work will get underway; it is expected to take a further two weeks.

The total cost of the access improvements is £27,540 and are the first in a series of new projects to boost Cleator Moor over the coming months, thanks to funding from Copeland Borough Council.

A total of £500,000 in immediate funding for the town has been secured, while the town board has also made a funding bid to the Government's Towns Fund that was made last month.

The remaining money has been earmarked for an upgrade of the children’s play area at Jacktrees Road and a new 3G pitch and improved fencing and lighting at Cleator Moor Activity Centre. Work on these schemes will begin before April.

Mike Starkie, Mayor of Copeland, explained what benefits the improvements would bring.

He said: “These new connections to the C2C are win-win; they provide users of the path with a better route in to access Cleator Moor, and give Cleator Moor residents better access to the path that can be used to cycle, jog or walk.

“This is an important milestone because it signifies the start of this ‘accelerated’ funding aspect of the Towns Fund plan, with much-welcomed improvements to the children’s play area and sporting facilities to follow soon.

“And we hope this is just a start, as we await feedback on the Towns Board’s bid for transformational funding for Cleator Moor.”

The Reivers Cycle Route runs 170 miles from Whitehaven to Tynemouth, skirting the edge of the Lake District and passing through Kielder Forest in Northumberland.

It takes its name from the Border Reivers, who once roamed the territory the route meanders through.