Businesses should be allowed to bid for grants of up to £100,000 (US$124,245, €113,646) to invest in facilities for cyclists, according to British Cycling and Paralympian Dame Sarah Storey.

Grant money could go towards showers and bike parking, while individuals should also benefit from tax breaks of up to £250 per year if they cycle to work.

The measures are being recommended to encourage more active lives, and will ultimately help reduce the squeeze on the NHS budget and ease congestion on the roads.They have been put together by tax expert Jolyon Maugham QC and endorsed by Storey and the national governing body.

Chris Boardman, British Cycling’s policy advisor, said the millions saved by the NHS would “more than pay for the tax break”.

Multiple Olympic gold medallist Storey added: “It’s only right that if a company invests heavily in providing high quality changing and bike storage facilities – things that will help our nation become healthier and fitter – that they should get a tax incentive for it.

“We want Britain to become a true cycling nation and we’ll only get there if we can get the government to be forward-thinking and to work in partnership with business.”

According to British Cycling, national funding for cycling is “set to fall to less than £1 per head, just 0.3 per cent of total transport spend”.

“Far below British Cycling’s recommended minimum of 5 per cent of total spend that is needed to fund properly segregated cycling lanes.”