COUNCILLORS have voted to rip up a controversial segregated cycleway in Ayr following public outcry over the route.

The motion to remove the bi-directional cycleway on the A70 Holmston Road was backed by a vote of 19 to 11 during a meeting of South Ayrshire council today [thu].

The result was met with cheers from the public benches, where more than 100 people had turned out to watch the debate.

The motion had been brought by Councillor Allan Dorans, leader of the SNP opposition, and was backed by all nine Nationalist councillors. It was also supported by eight of the council's 10 Conservative councillors, one Labour councillor and one independent.

The remaining eight Labour councillors and one independent councillor at the Conservative-Labour run council voted against the motion.

Mr Dorans said the result was a "victory for common sense".

He added: "It's a victory for local people and evidence that we as a council are prepared to listen and act on their behalf."

The motion also called on Ayrshire Roads Alliance, a partnership body set up by East and South Ayrshire councils in 2014, to pick up the cost of removing it and restoring the original design of two non-protected cycle lanes either side of the carriageway.

ARA began constructing the cycleway this summer after obtaining £65,000 from organisations including Sustrans Scotland. Opponents said they were furious that there had been no public consultation and that the new cycleway was causing congestion and diverting traffic into residential side streets to park.

However, the ARA stressed that overall road width was unaffected and a spokesman for East Ayrshire council said its members were surprised by the vote, insisting that the project had been signed off by South Ayrshire councillors years ago.

He said: "The [Holmston Road] cycle lane forms part of South Ayrshire Council’s longstanding commitment –which pre-dates the formation of ARA – to create a continuous cycling corridor along the A70, linking Ayr town centre to Coylton."

The two councils now look set to come to blows over the cost of removing the cycleway, with East Ayrshire council "clearly of the view that the costs of the proposed re-instatement of the original cycle lane arrangement will require to be met by South Ayrshire Council".

Cycle campaigners and environmentalists accused the SNP councillors of "hypocrisy" for voting against the protected cycleway. Segregated routes are considered vital to boosting cycling rates in line with the Scottish Government target of having 10 per cent of journeys made by bike by 2020.

Currently, only 1.2 per cent of journeys in Scotland are made by bike.