Sir – You quoted county councillor David Nimmo Smith in your article about the proposed Eynsham-Botley cycle path last week as saying “to secure the funding from central Government, you have to show that it is really on an economic route”.

I suggest that it would be of great economic advantage to tempt people out of their cars and so reduce the jams, fossil fuel consumption and pollution which occur for three or four hours every working day on all roads leading to Oxford.

A recent survey conducted by Oxford University students found that, on health grounds alone, the path would pay for itself in five years.

Mr Smith’s suggestion that commuters use the A40 path strongly suggests that he is not a serious cyclist since, for those living in Eynsham and working in Botley or south-west Oxford, the A40 route comprises two sides of a triangle.

Rosalind Kent, Back Lane, Eynsham