Projects to encourage Scottish people to leave their cars at home and choose active travel options look set to be shelved as the Scottish Government cuts all but essential spending.

Government funding to Sustrans Scotland has been halted, forcing the organisation to pause a number of projects in its Places for Everyone programme, says The Scotsman. The programme’s 200 projects, with the stated of aim of persuading more Scots to walk and cycle, are at various stages of development, but decisions on whether to continue with a number of them have now been paused.

A spokesman for Sustrans Scotland said: “We have grant agreements with Transport Scotland up to £66.2 million and there have been no changes to these. There is a pipeline of Places for Everyone projects which would require additional funds. Decision making on these has been paused.”

Transport Scotland added: “We have allocated Sustrans with £66.2m of funding this financial year to work with delivery partners to deliver active travel infrastructure. We value the expertise of Sustrans and have been clear that as part of our transformation programme that they will build on their long established role in supporting the ambitions of local authorities and regional transport partnerships to make walking, wheeling and cycling an easier transport choice for communities right across the country.”