A petition has been launched urging Bristol City Council to make foot and cyclepaths safer in icy conditions by spending more money gritting them.

City councillor Charlie Bolton believes injuries and accidents involving pedestrians and cyclists could be prevented during cold snaps if more routes were covered with salt.

As it stands, the city council grits main roads when ice is forecast but only one cyclepath is covered – the Bristol to Bath track.

But Southville's Green Party councillor Mr Bolton says more should be spent on gritting paths, especially as Bristol now has Cycling City status.

An e-petition set up earlier this month calling for more money to be spent gritting paths has already been backed by more than 80 people.

Mr Bolton says he set up the petition after he heard about several pedestrians and cyclists who had fallen over in Southville and Ashton during January's cold spell.

He said: "I heard of about five accidents in two days. The Chocolate Path alongside the New Cut was so icy, I refused to cycle on it. That is a well-used path and, as a Cycling City, people will actively be put off cycling if the paths are not safe to use.

"I understand there's the issue of money but we will see how the petition gets on and how well it's supported."

The council grits pavements near shops, health centres, hospitals, elderly people's homes and schools during prolonged periods of frost or snowfall.

It grits the Bristol to Bath cycle path when ice is predicted because it is classed as a major route, which the council says is used by 2,200 commuters on bikes and several hundred pedestrians every day.

Bristol city cabinet councillor Mark Bradshaw, said: "The council grits major routes into the city for commuters, and the Bristol to Bath cycle track is gritted in very severe weather, as it carries 2,200 commuters a day into the city. Thousands of cyclists also use the major road routes. Minor routes for cars, cyclists and pedestrians are not machine gritted under the present policy, but hand gritting takes place on some steep hills to prevent slips and falls.

"Supplies of grit are liable to being moved around the country to deal with priorities. The priority nationally is to grit motorways, the A road network and other fast, dangerous roads where people – particularly pedestrians and cyclists – can be killed.

"Key roads are also the principle fast access routes for emergency vehicles. In a severe winter it is hard to predict how long freezing weather will last, and councils have to be careful with existing supplies."