A BIKE hire scheme will be rolled-out at12 more locations – providing 120 extra bikes – across Glasgow.

Plans to introduce nextbike stops at six places around the city centre, using funding provided by Transport Scotland for work in support of Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone, were recently announced.

It has now been revealed that another six stations will be added as part of an expansion for 2020.

These stations are: Hyndland Road (junction of Prince Albert Road), Broomhill (junction of Dumbarton Road/Broomhill Drive), St Andrews Drive (at Daziel Drive and Springkell Ave), St Rollox (junction of Carlisle Road/Keppochill Road) and Springburn Railway Station.

The locations funded by Transport Scotland are: Central Station at Oswald Street/Argyle Street, at the Renfrew Ferry near the Kingston Bridge, at Round Toll at Garscube Road/Farnell Street, Bath Street at Wellington Street, King Street at Osborne Street and at Carrick Quay at Clyde Street.

READ MORE: E-bike fleet proves popular with Glasgow cyclists

Councillor Anna Richardson, city convener for sustainability and carbon reduction, said: "Since its launch, the city’s bike hire scheme has been hugely popular and last year alone there were over 500,000 rentals by people making a healthy, environmentally positive transport choice.

"The successful addition of e-bikes to the hire offer highlighted how much demand there is for using a bike as a quick, convenient and flexible way to get about.

"The scheme is now an integral part of Glasgow’s effort to promote more sustainable forms of transport and adds to the effort to decarbonise how we travel across the city.

"We are now on course to reach our target of 1000 hire bikes at 100 stations in Glasgow and we are confident the new stations will add to the scheme's on-going success."

There are now 79 stations across the city.

Councillor Martin McElroy, for Springburn/Robroyston, said: "I’m delighted that areas like Springburn will be getting new infrastructure to support Next Bike.

"We need to make active travel as convenient, safe and affordable as possible so that people choose to leave their cars at home.

"Next Bike has been a huge success for Glasgow since their introduction and I’m hoping that the locations in Springburn prove popular enough to extend the scheme further afield in the future."

Krysia Solheim, managing director for nextbike, said: "One of our main goals as an organisation is to encourage people to think about switching to sustainable transport modes across the city.

"By bringing more bikes onto the streets and introducing stations in Low Emission Zones, we’re making that switch easier for people than ever before."

She added: "Given that the world’s eyes will be on Glasgow later this year for the COP26 climate conference, this is the perfect time to be expanding the fleet.

"The demand for bike share in Glasgow has been phenomenal since we launched back in 2014 and after our relaunch of the system back in 2017.

"The community has completely embraced the scheme and it’s largely thanks to public demand that the scheme has grown so quickly."