A CYCLIST has spoken of his anger after he was knocked off his bike in a hit-and-run smash.

Russell Hart, 51, is to undergo surgery to have his elbow reset after he was thrown from his bicycle while training for a Bradley Wiggins challenge.

A furious Mr Hart said the driver had ‘no conscience’ and he said he doubted whether the motorist would have stopped even if he had hit a child.

The enthusiast, who lives in Burnley Lane, Huncoat, was knocked off his cycle while practising for a 160km challenge spearheaded by Olympic gold medal winner Wiggins.

The collision, which happened in Clitheroe Road near Waddington has left the lorry driver with a fractured elbow and injuries to his shoulder and knee.

He is due to go into the operating theatre today to have metal rods and plates inserted into his right arm to help the bones reset.

The black Vauxhall Corsa, which was travelling behind Mr Hart’s Scott CR1 road racing bike down Clitheroe Road when it tried to get past a tractor travelling on the other side of the road.

The North Lancashire Riding Club member was so traumatised by the incident that he is considering never getting back on a bike again.

He said: “The driver has got no conscience. I could have been a three-year-old child and I still don’t think they would have stopped.

“It doesn’t say much for them.

“I was just coming out of Waddington when it happened and the car came from nowhere.

“It was such a shock, it was a lovely day and I had just stopped at the top of the fell and though how lovely it was and then 10 minutes later I was pulling myself up off the road.

“The car belted my elbow, which knocked me off, and it is broken in a few different pieces now.

“I am debating whether to just give it all up now, my wife has told me I have to.”

The father-of-two was in training for the Ride with Brad event on August 19, which will see riders meet at Victory Park, in Barnoldswick and cycle through some of the region’s most scenic areas.

The cycle has been organised by the Bradley Wiggins Foundation, which encourages people to get involved in sport.

But Mr Hart said he would have to pull out of the race and called for better facilities for cyclists to stop serious incidents like this from happening.

He said: “Cycling is a great thing to get into but we need better cycling lanes and people need to slow down.

“If the driver of the car in my case had just given it five seconds, the tractor would have been passed and nobody would have got hurt.”

PC Mark Royle-Evatt, from the road policing unit, said: “At around 3pm on Thursday a man had been riding his pedal cycle down Clitheroe Road near Waddington, travelling towards Clitheroe near Waddow Hall.

“The incident was witnessed by several people but none of them got the registration number as they were busy tending to Mr Hart.

“There was a line of vehicles behind a tractor coming towards Waddington and the cyclist was travelling in the opposite direction.

“The driver has misjudged it completely. The car didn’t stop after the collision.”

Anyone with information is asked to call 01254 353210.