A PAIR of entrepreneurs are encouraging cyclists to get on their bike - or someone else's.

Will Seward and Eric Stewart founded a bike-sharing website that is being trialled exclusively in the Swindon area.

Byyker lets people hire their bikes to others for a small fee which varies depending on whether the two-wheelers are being borrowed for a half day, day or week.

Will, 50, from Wroughton, said: "We tried to think about what we enjoy doing as a hobby and linking it to work.

"Bike sharing is something we've done in our spare time but it can be tricky to organise - with this, it only takes a few minutes.

"We started work on this months ago but it took a lot of time to get all the bugs fixed and to make the system as simple as possible."

After officially launching last month, they hope Byyker will prove to be popular enough for a nationwide or even international rollout.

Will added: "The aim was to give people more freedom when they travel.

"They don't have to deal with the hassle and expense of taking bulky bikes with them on day trips or long holidays, they can just turn up somewhere and easily find a bike to hire wherever they go.

"It also lets cyclists earn a little extra money every month by letting other people use their bikes while they're at work."

"The website looks fantastic and we've had a lot of views, so it's early days but so far so good. We just need to keep improving the concept.

"I've tried setting up businesses before but they were done at the wrong time and the wrong place. I'm hopeful that this one will hit the sweet spot."

Eric said: "Bikes are really fun. They allowed us to discover the world around us. We would think nothing of leaving the house at 9am and coming back at dusk, tired and hungry but happy.

"We only really remembered this when we got back on our bikes in our early 30s, and what a great feeling it was.

"Over the next 20 years, we have enjoyed many hours on two wheels. We want to reinvigorate this sense of freedom that cycling can bring. There are many amazing things to see and experience out there."

Visit byyker.com