People will be rewarded with offers and discounts for journeys they make in London on foot or by bike under a new incentive scheme.

Recyclebank and Transport for London’s (TfL) programme aims to get more people walking and cycling in the capital to help reduce pollution, ease congestion and boost fitness among Londoners.

The scheme will use technology on people’s smartphones to record journeys they make on foot or by bike and then award them points for their trips which will be redeemable against a range of offers and discounts from companies such as Marks & Spencer.

The programme, which will be tested from the end of this year before being launched next spring, mirrors Recyclebank’s scheme to get householders recycling by rewarding them with vouchers that can be used in shops, leisure centres and other places which are partners in the scheme.

The recycling scheme has been rolled out across the US and is now being run in several local authority areas in the UK.

The programme will be free to join and will not cost TfL any additional money, Recyclebank said.

Rob Crumbie, director of marketing at communications at Recyclebank, said the initiative would support TfL’s efforts to get people cycling and walking more.

“We are confident our plans for transport will result in even more people cycling and walking.