British Cycling has appointed its first infrastructure expert to act as a consultant on how to design cycle friendly cities.

Adrian Lord, a transport consultant specialising in cycle infrastructure design and promotional strategies, will be the governing body's advisor on cycle-proofing road layouts, junctions and route design.

Lord's appointment is designed to help British Cycling achieve one of its key ambitions - to get the government to put cycling at the heart of its transport policy.

Martin Gibbs, British Cycling's director of policy said: "The fact we've brought our own infrastructure expert on board is a sign of how seriously we're taking the government's cycling ambitions.

"We recognise that the key to transforming our villages, towns and cities into cycle-friendly environments - and in turn getting millions more people on bikes - is totally about getting it right on infrastructure."

Lord added: "Cycle proofing isn't just about making the roads safer for cyclists, it's about creating routes that are convenient for cycling with an appropriate level of segregation on links and of priority at junctions.

"A well designed route is intuitive - drivers will automatically adjust their speed, all users will know when to give way and when they have priority. Properly designing towns and cities for cyclists would have an immeasurable impact on everyone in the country creating more pleasant and sustainable places to live."

Lord has been a transport consultant for more than 18 years and has headed up projects for Cycling England and the Department for Transport. He has significant experience in designing cycle-friendly infrastructure and has contributed to the design of cycle schemes across the UK including projects on the London Cycle Network and the National Cycle Network.