A study is being set up to find out whether the £19 million Cycling City money for Bristol will change people's habits.

Independent researchers at the University of the West of England want to see whether investment in cycling, comparable to that in other parts of Europe, will make cycling the norm for short journeys about town.

But the leader of the research Dr Kiron Chatterjee conceded this would involve a major shift.

"Cycling is uncommon in most parts of the UK. Only five per cent of people cycle at all," he said.

"For some people cycling is a weekday activity, getting to work or school, but for others it is something they do at weekends."

Dr Chatterjee and Professor Graham Parkhurst from UWE's centre for transport and society will be carrying out their research over four years in Bristol and in the other eleven places given money through the Cycling City and Towns (CCT) programme.

The investment is being used to fund improvements to cycle routes, training for children in schools and marketing and promotion work.

The researchers will question people before and after the initiatives are brought in so they can assess their impact.

"This is a wonderful opportunity. Not only is it the largest investment programme in cycling ever seen in the UK, but there is the opportunity with this research to thoroughly investigate the programme's impact and identify what works best to increase cycling. It's especially exciting given that we are based in Bristol , which is the national cycling city," Dr Chatterjee said.

UWE researchers with expertise in health economics and child health will also be involved in the study.