WORK to remove a controversial cycle lane that divided the city is underway as dozens worked through the night to dismantle it.

Council staff used a saw and a jackhammer to dig up the controversial Old Shoreham Road cycle lane last night as work began to uninstall it.

The removal took place overnight between 8pm and 4am and will continue for the next five days, ending in the early hours of Sunday, September 19.

Councillors voted to scrap the cycle lane at the Environment, Transport and Sustainability urgency sub-committee in August, with it to be removed as quickly as possible.

Pictures taken from the south side of the road show Brighton and Hove City Council staff working through the night to dismantle the lane.

The work is being done in two phases with each taking approximately three days to complete.

In phase one, the cycle lane on the south side of the road, from The Drive moving west to Hangleton Road will be removed.

Work will include removing the plastic wands and repairing the carriageway where they were installed. It will also include relining.

The Argus: Workers removing the Old Shoreham Road cycle lane Workers removing the Old Shoreham Road cycle lane

Phase two will see the cycle lane on the north side from Hangleton Road moving east to The Drive scrapped.

As in phase one, work will include removing the plastic wands and repairing the carriageway where they were installed. It will also include relining.

Diversions and delays are expected while the work takes place as The Old Shoreham Road will remain closed.

The cycle lane was one of a series of “active travel” schemes introduced across Brighton and Hove during the first national coronavirus lockdown at the behest of the Conservative government.

The emergency active travel schemes were introduced when the government was urging people not to use public transport.

The Old Shoreham Road cycle lane was created in May last year, in place of a lane of other traffic on each side of the road. It joined the existing cycle lane between The Drive and Dyke Road.

At the time, Labour was the biggest party on the council.

The council received more than £3 million from the government in the first two tranches of “emergency active travel funding”.

A report before councillors last month said that almost £280,000 of funding was immediately at risk because of the vote to remove the cycle lane.

Green councillor Amy Heley said that the decision to remove the cycle lane was “shameful”.

She said at the time: “I’m scared for the future. This is the tiniest thing we could have done, a step in the right direction, but they just don’t care. It’s very disappointing.”