A network of cycling and walking tracks that already wriggles across 12,000 miles of Britain today scooped a £50m "people's'" lottery prize — the biggest lottery award ever decided by public vote.

The public vote overwhelmingly backed proposals by Sustrans, a Bristol-based charity, to add to the existing National Cycle Network it has created over the past 12 years.

With Sustrans 2, the network will now expand to take in a derelict canal tunnel in Bath, a muddy bank in south London, and Glasgow's infamous Bridge to Nowhere, where work stopped in midair over 30 years ago.

As part of the winning scheme, 79 communities will benefit from new walking and cycling routes that aim to improve local travel.

"Ours aren't the most glamorous projects," Gill Harrison, a spokeswoman for Sustrans said, "but they are just about making life a little bit nicer for everybody."

Almost half — 42 per cent — of the 286,000 people who voted by phone or online, backed Sustrans, giving it a massive lead over the other three shortlisted projects — Sherwood forest, a massive extension to the Eden Project in Cornwall, and the Black Country Urban Park.