Enfield Council has no plans to remove lane segregators from the borough’s cycle lanes, despite fears they pose a safety risk to pedestrians.

Deputy leader Cllr Daniel Anderson confirmed the council planned to keep the segregators – dubbed ‘orcas’ – in place, claiming they are encouraging more people, including children and families, to cycle.

His comments came after a resident of Park Crescent complained that her 82-year-old husband injured himself after tripping over one of the orcas while crossing the road.

She said: “I don’t object to the cycle lanes – it is the things on the edge of them. My husband went flying over one. He had a horrible gouge out of his hand.

“I just think that for the money they have spent on it, they could have spent it better.”

She said her husband waited for an ambulance in a nearby Sainsbury’s, and staff told her they had looked after five or six other people who had been injured by the lane segregators.

In March 2017, Facebook group Green Lanes SOS posted: “According to Riverside Florists several people have tripped over the plastic orcas and one women ended up sprawled in the middle of the road – fortunately there was no traffic. I warned about this at both the formal and informal consultation stages.”

Last year, Camden Council and the City of London removed orcas from a cycle lane in Aldgate after several people tripped or fell over them.

But Cllr Anderson said: “Anyone who falls over in any way, shape or form, we are sorry to hear that and wish them a full and speedy recovery.

“The orcas are a standard safety feature from Transport for London (TfL). They have put them in a variety of places. There are a handful of places where we removed one or two of them.

“There are no orcas at appropriate scheduled crossings, so there is no reason why anyone crossing at that point should trip over them.

“There are two metres between orcas in other areas, so if people are looking where they are crossing, there should be no reason to trip over them.

“The evidence is we are seeing families and children using the cycle lanes. More people are feeling comfortable and safe.”

He added that the council's funding bid had been successful because  the borough had one of the lowest cycling rates in London and the mayor of London saw the potential of Cycle Enfield to boost uptake.

The project, which has received £30 million in funding from TfL, is part of a plan to plan to ensure five per cent of journeys in London are made by bicycle by 2026.

Cllr Anderson added: “It is not about everyone cycling, but about creating opportunities for people to cycle – particularly when we have an obesity crisis.

“The issue is we need more people to look at getting out of their cars.”

He added that with the borough’s population on the rise, alternative modes of transport needed to be encouraged to prevent Enfield’s roads becoming gridlocked.

Cllr Anderson said Cycle Enfield was under constant review and any safety issues would be investigated as they arose.