Cyclist critical following Shoreditch van collision

A van driver was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving after a cyclist was left in a critical condition following a crash in Shoreditch, just hours before a mass protest to try and improve cycle safety in London.

The rider, a 25-year-old man, was hospitalised in the collision at the junction between Shoreditch High Street and Great Eastern Street around 8.40am on Saturday morning.

A spokesman for London Ambulance Service said he was taken to Royal London Hospital as ‘a priority’.

The driver of the van stopped at the scene and the Metropolitan Police confirmed he was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, but has since been bailed until July pending further inquiries.

The incident happened just a few hours before the London Cycling Campaign organised a mass ride through central London to urge for safer streets.

Thousands turned out for the Space4Cycling Big Ride and there is another cycling protest planned for Wednesday.

The group Stop Killing Cyclists are staging a die-in at Elephant and Castle, the site of the fifth cyclist to die on London’s roads in 2014.