Connect2 public vote starts Monday 26 November

Online voting has opened for one of four projects to win £50m worth of Big Lottery Funding, including a scheme which will help Hereford.

The Sustrans Connect2 project, one of the four contenders, would give £350,000 towards a three mile walking and cycling scheme between Hereford and Rotherwas that will help cut city congestion, improve health for Herefordians and slash commuter times by up to 75 per cent.

One of 79 schemes nationwide that make up the Connect2 bid, the Hereford scheme exploits an existing Welsh Water bridge over the river and ultimately offers a safe and environmentally friendly route out as far as the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty at Holme Lacy.

The scheme has widespread support from local residents groups, local businesses and the Chamber of Commerce, walking and cycling groups, the PCT and local health groups. Rotherwas firms are also making computers available to staff to enable them to vote online.

Councillor Brian Wilcox, Herefordshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "I would urge all people in the county to make sure they vote for Connect2 because this scheme will make a huge difference to Hereford by helping to reduce congestion."

One online vote per email address will count. Telephone voting, which will be at the local call rate will be verified by the caller's ID so to be sure your counts please check it's not hidden. Because of this, calls from switchboards will count as one vote. No money will be made by the Big Lottery Fund or ITV1 from the calls.

You can vote for Connect2 online now at http://www.thepeoples50million.org.uk/. TV presenter Lorraine Kelly will be presenting the Connect2 case after the ITV1 late evening news on Tuesday, December 4. Telephone voting begins on Friday, December 7.

All voting closes at noon Monday, December 10. To register for a reminder to vote text Connect2 to 80010 or go online to http://www.sustransconnect2.org.uk/ where there are also ecards you can send to friends and family to spread the word.

The winning scheme will be announced on Wednesday, December 12.

The online voting process step by step

This process is not complicated, but is designed to ensure total fairness - please do cast your vote because we need your vote to count!

Enter your name and a valid email address, create a username and password. Follow the instructions to complete the process. This will activate an email that will be sent to you containing a link for you to click on to continue the voting process.

This will take you back to the website and you can 'log in' with the username and password you created.

Once you have logged back in you can cast your vote. There is an additional security feature for your vote to be counted, just follow the instructions on screen.

Online voting is available until December 10 at noon.