A CYCLIST who suffered severe injuries in an accident on one of Hereford's busiest roads has described the aftermath of the collision.

Dane Phillips was on his way from his home in Stanhope Street to the Aldi supermarket when he was in collision with a car at the junction of Ryelands Street and Whitecross Road.

He suffered traumatic injuries to his calf after the force of the impact knocked him and his bike flying, causing his leg to become impaled upon the handlebar of his bike as he crashed to the ground.

"I didn't initially realise I had been hurt, and then I saw that the gear and brake levers on the handlebars were stuck deep in my leg," he added.

"The handlebars had to be cut off my bike by firefighters using specialist equipment at the scene and then I was taken to hospital to have them removed from my leg."

Mr Phillips spent time in theatre where the five-and-a-half inch wound on the back of his calf was cleaned and damaged tissue removed.

He has had to undergo a course of intravenous antibiotics and is receiving physiotherapy in the aftermath of the accident.

The 45-year-old, who works as a maintenance technician at Hereford College of Arts, is now taking time off to recover at home, but says the result could have been much worse.

He claims the accident at 5.30pm on January 28 was not a "one-off" and says the narrow streets in Whitecross are used as rat-runs by drivers looking to get in and out of west Hereford.

"It could have been a child that was hit," he added.

"It was a big car and it could easily have been a fatal accident.

"I'd just like to raise awareness, in the hope that this doesn't happen to anyone else."