A contentious scheme for a £600k cycle-lane in Orpington will press ahead despite a group of councillors calling for a rethink over its cost to the taxpayer.

Some Tory councillors said there is not enough demand for the proposed scheme along Crofton Road, believing it will cost too much money and slow traffic down.

Over a year since the scheme first emerged, Bromley Council last month agreed on revamped proposals for the route to bring the original £800k bill down.

Councillors Tony Own, Simon Fawthrop, Russell Mellor, Keith Onslow and Harry Stranger all submitted call-ins.

‘Call-in’s’ are a rare town-hall move taken by councillors who want decisions to be brought back around the table.

Cllr Owen said at a special meeting last night: “The frightening thing really is the £600k expenditure – which although does not come out of our budget, it is tax payers’ money and we need to take care of it.

“It would be very easy to make a cycle lane by painting some lines on both sides of the roads – there would be ample room for cyclists, and for buses. What’s proposed here is overkill.

The councillors said the route risked slowing down traffic along a key route from Princes Royal Hospital, “cause havoc” with buses and questioned the amount of support from residents the scheme had.

“The whole reason for this is very questionable. Very good alternatives exist – everything I look at doesn’t make sense, and then there is the eye-watering £600k, why are we paying that?”, Cllr Owen finished.

Councillors were told that despite sending out more than 3,000 letters, only 26 replied – 65 per cent of which were supporting the scheme.

TfL – who were funding the works – have however identified this as a key route to encourage more people to switch to cycling.

Cabinet member for environment, councillor William Huntington Thresher, said the route would compliment other work planned for Orpington Station – making it a cycle hub.

Cllr Thresher said: “As a council we are promoting active travel as an alternative. Our effort to tackle active travel and reduce congestion needs to give residents the proper option.

“Obviously the Mayor’s transport strategy has seen priority for new routes and where they wish to spend their money.

“We have seen a slow take up of increased use of bikes, and one thing suggested recently as a reason is the quality of quietways.”

TfL, councillors were told, would invest the money elsewhere in London unless a decision was made quickly.

The meeting agreed that the scheme’s benefits outweighed its concerns and voted to support its approval with just two abstentions.

Cllr Angela Wilkins, labour leader, said at the meeting: “It’s a chicken and egg in my book. What happens when you have decent cycling infrastructure is that people use it.”

Councillor Angela Wilkins moved the proposal and was backed by Cllr Kieran Terry.

The scheme was revised earlier this year to remove cycle facilities between Ormonde Avenue and Crofton Avenue, although improvements to the pedestrian facilities would remain.