Cattle grid is blamed for catapulting cyclist (From Keighley News)

Cattle grid is blamed for catapulting cyclist

1:00pm Wednesday 5th September 2012 in News

A cyclist from Lothersdale claims poor maintenance of a cattle grid by North Yorkshire County Council caused him to catapult from his bike and suffer horrendous injuries.

Peter Edmundson counts himself lucky to be alive after the crash on the Carleton to Colne Road near Elslack Moor, as he was riding his usual route.

The 57-year-old was flung from his bike when the front wheel got jammed in a gap which ran the width of the grid.

The engineer blames the accident on lack of maintenance which has allowed the bars to come apart. It left him unconscious for about a minute and semi-conscious for five to ten minutes as passers-by came to his rescue.

“I came round but didn’t know where I was or what had happened,” he said. “The first thing I remember was being on the ground.

“The bike wheel had got jammed in the gap and I was thrown off about three metres onto the road. The bike actually remained standing up.”

He was taken to Airedale Hospital by car where he had a scan. He had injuries to his head, bruises to his body, legs and knees and cuts to his chest and damage to his shoulder and arms.

“I count myself very lucky not to be much more seriously injured,” he said.

Mr Edmundson was angry that after reporting the accident to the county council, nothing had been done when he returned three days later.

A North Yorkshire County Council spokesman said: “The county council regrets any incident where people are injured on the highway. We are currently investigating the condition of the cattle grid on Elslack Moor and the cause of the accident.”