Fit commuters should be able to hire foldable bicycles from several Kent train stations by the summer.

Plans are afoot to install bikes at Ashford International, Maidstone East, Canterbury West and Tonbridge stations.

Brompton Dock, which is proposing to install a locker holding 20 bicycles at each station, said they would be place in the near future.

Spokesman Ruth Hardy said: “I can’t give an exact date but it will be in the next couple of months.”

The Department for Transport, which has been working closely with charity Sustrans and the Cycle Rail Working Group, will put forward £124,000 for the project with further funding coming from Southeastern, the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and Kent County Council.

The scheme, similar to the Boris Bikes initiative in London, will enable commuters to register online to get a code which they can text, along with the dock number to release a bike from the dock.

Charles Horton, managing director, Southeastern

A bike, which can be folded to the size of a briefcase, can then be released and used as much as the commuter wishes.

The membership will cost £45 per year for regular members, with a bike hire charge of £2.50 per day, or £10 per year for leisure members, with a charge of £5 per day.

Southeastern’s managing director Charles Horton, who already uses Brompton bikes to commute, said it was terrific news for passengers when the project was first announced.

“In the past few years we have seen an increase in the number of people riding bikes and Southeastern is supportive of this trend,” he said.

“Because the Brompton bikes are foldable, we allow passengers to carry them onboard our trains during the peak, provided they are safely stowed away as luggage.”

Southeastern spokesman Alison Nolan added: “We’re really pleased to be working with our partners on this project; the Kent County Council and Brompton Dock to bring the cycle scheme to Kent.

“The Brompton Dock hire scheme will be available in the coming months at Ashford International, Canterbury West, Maidstone East and Tonbridge stations.

"We want to encourage more people to leave their cars at home and ride to the station wherever possible – we do allow the fold-up bikes on our trains at all times of the day, so the Brompton bikes are ideal for commuters on our services.

“This investment is part of our commitment to provide more services for our customers and is on top of the 2,500 additional cycle rack spaces we’ve created at stations across Kent in the past four years.”