A CYCLIST suffered serious head injuries when she collided with a pedestrian on Brighton seafront.

The 54-year-old woman from Brighton was riding in the cycle lane on Madeira Drive, east of the Palace Pier when she collided with a 33-year-old woman from Hertfordshire.

Witnesses said the cyclist fell over the handlebars of her bike after striking the pedestrian.The incident occurred on the seaside cycle lane about 500m west of Duke’s Mound.

The woman was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in a critical condition. She was transferred to the Hurstwood Park Hospital neurological unit where she was then described as stable but with serious head injuries.

The pedestrian received minor injuries but did not require hospital treatment.

Rebecca Chadderton, 47, a volunteer at Modern World Gallery, close to the crash, said: “One of the artists next door had a man come in from the scene who was covered in blood so it was quite a mess.

“The police were coming down with washing up bowls full of water and there are still stains on the pavement.”

She added: “Every day I walk to work I see near misses on Maderia Drive. Just opposite us we have the anchor which takes up the pavement and people have to step into the cycle lane. Sometimes people are not thinking, sometimes cyclists are not thinking. It is a danger to everyone.”

Simon Klimek, engineer on the Volks’ Electric Railway, said: “The police did a reconstruction of the incident but I did not see the incident actually happen.

“There were a lot of police.”

A spokesman from Sussex Police said: “The victim is currently in Hurstwood Park neurological unit with serious head injuries. She is in a stable condition.”

Anyone who saw what happened on Saturday at 2.25pm is asked to contact Sussex Police via 101 or email collision.appeal@sussex.pnn.police.uk quoting Operation Omega.

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