CYCLISTS have been branded a nuisance by train company Connex South Eastern in an astonishing outburst at a public meeting.

Glen Charles, Connex commercial director, said: “We don’t really like cyclists, passengers don’t really like them, car owners don’t like them.

"Cycles parked at stations and not carried on trains are by far the lesser of two evils. It's when they try to put bikes on trains that we have a real problem.”

The admission came after Connex paid out more than £100,000 for cycle parking facilities to keep them off the trains.

But Colin Nicol, spokesman for the National Cycling Association in Medway, challenged Connex to define who exactly it is that the company does not like.

He said: “When they are saying, ‘they don’t like cyclists’, who are they talking about?

“We have got doctors, lawyers and all sorts of people from Medway who ride bikes regardless of profession.”

Mr Nicol said Connex was making it so difficult for passengers to take bikes on to trains that the elderly and less-able people are suffering.

He said: “We used to take people who cannot ride very well down to the coast, but it has become such a problem that we have stopped doing it.”

The Government is currently trying to meet its target for increased cycle use, but Mr Nicol said: “Government policy is to improve transport but Connex has made it worse.”

Some other train operators are also trying to slam the door on cyclists. But other, including Anglia Railways and Arriva Merseyside, feature bike carriages and work with cyclists. They claim that it improves revenue and services.