Alternatives to car transport will be showcased in Exmouth in the town’s first Active Travel Day on Saturday, April 30.

It is being organised by Active Travel Exmouth, Transition Exmouth and the town council, with the support of several other organisations, to promote walking, cycling and using public transport instead of driving.

The event on the Strand will also see the official launch of Transition Exmouth’s ExeCargo bike hire scheme, with a chance for people to have a ride on the e-bikes and find out how they might be able to use them for family transport and/or work purposes.

Active Travel Day is taking place from 10am until 4pm. There will be several stalls in the Strand, including displays by three local bike shops, Exmouth Cycles, Knobblies and Roots Cycleworks.

Also attending will be the sustainable transport charity Sustrans, East Devon Ramblers who organise walking groups, Stagecoach Buses, Co-Bikes electric bike hire and Newton Electric, a company that converts ordinary bicycles into e-bikes.

Information will be available on local walking and cycling routes for travelling around Exmouth while avoiding main roads.

Free bike checks will also be offered by Ride On from Exeter, for anyone wanting to make sure their bike is roadworthy and safe. The half-hour slots need to be booked in advance by visiting https://tinyurl.com/353wwpua or phoning 07950 222672.

The ExeCargo launch will show off the two e-bikes that are now available for hire, both of which can carry children as well as cargo. The group has spent months testing and researching the many different e-cargo bikes available before choosing the two they thought would be the most useful to local residents and businesses.

The storage, hire and maintenance of the bikes is being managed by Exmouth Cycles on behalf of Transition Exmouth.

The ExeCargo project was crowd-funded, with support from more than 70 individuals , Exmouth Town Council's Climate and Ecological Emergency fund , EDDC's Crowdfunder and DCC's Climate Action Back the Future .

Transition Exmouth said: “We massively appreciate every single pledge, and we hope everyone who contributed will come and celebrate the launch with us at Active Travel Day.”