A bid to have a decision not to reinstate “pop-up” cycle lanes in High Street Kensington declared illegal has been thrown out by the High Court.

Walking and cycling campaigners had sought a judicial review of the way Kensington and Chelsea council axed the cycle lanes in December 2020 after complaints from a number of residents and businesses.

But Mr Justice Lane, in a written judgement on Tuesday, dismissed the claim from the Better Streets for Kensington & Chelsea group and found in favour of the Tory-run council.

Better Streets said afterwards: “We are sorry to report that we have lost our judicial review case on the removal of the cycle lanes on High Street Kensington.

“We are not going to appeal the judgement, and so this marks the end of a legal process that began in December, 2020.

“No-one seriously thinks that removing a safety scheme after seven weeks, before it’s even been completed, makes sense.”

London Cycling Campaign chief executive Dr Ashok Sinha said the ruling was a “hollow victory by a borough that seems happy to put people cycling on its streets in danger”.

He added: “It remains imperative that Kensington and Chelsea makes this key cycling corridor safe in line with their own stated policies and the transport strategy of the Mayor and Transport for London.”

A council spokesperson said: “The judge has ruled in the council’s favour and dismissed the claim made by Better Streets.

“Our priority is to make Kensington and Chelsea a greener, safer and fairer place to live. We are happy to put legal challenges aside and look forward to working together on productive improvements to our streets.

“We commissioned independent research on travel patterns on our roads from the Centre for