BORIS Johnson’s cycle hire scheme will be available in Canary Wharf by 2012, the London Mayor has announced.

The flagship project has been an immediate success following its launch in central London and plans have now been confirmed for a further 2,000 cycles and 4,200 docking points.

The scheme’s expansion will encompass the entire borough of Tower Hamlets, stretching from the Hackney border in the north to the Isle of Dogs in the south.

Details on exactly where docking stations will be positioned have yet to be released, but consultations will be held this month and the likes of Bethnal Green, Bow, Canary Wharf, Mile End and Poplar are sure to be included.

Boris Johnson said: “Londoners have taken to the hire of two wheels with alacrity and it would have been absolutely nonsensical not to expand our scheme.

“Plans are now well advanced that will see the roll-out of thousands more of our gleaming bikes across the capital’s legendary East End.”

The expanded cycle hire area will cover an additional 20km sq and will have 2,700 docking points. An extra 1,500 docking stations will be added to the existing hire area in central London.

Since the scheme’s launch in the summer, around 100,000 people have become members, making more than 1.5 million journeys.

Around 95 per cent of those have been under 30 minutes, meaning the vast majority of people using the scheme are not paying any more than their daily �1, weekly �5 or annual �45 fees.