A CYCLIST was left screaming in pain with a broken leg after being thrown 20ft off a bridge by a suspected hit and run driver.
David Clayton said he was shouting for help for more than 30 minutes after being sent over the handlebars of his bike and down the side of Swarkestone Bridge.
He said a passing motorist came to his aid after seeing his bicycle lying in the road with its lights flashing.
The 56-year-old has spoken out in the hope that the person he believes collided with him "has a conscience" and comes forward to police.
Mr Clayton, of Alvaston, said: "It was shocking. The pain was unbearable.
"I looked at my leg after I landed and it was bent backwards.
"I started shouting for help. I was unable to move because of my injuries and the pain."
Mr Clayton, of Whernside Close, said he had been to visit friends in Melbourne and was riding home over the historic bridge at 11.45pm on August 17.
He said he had not been drinking, was wearing light-coloured clothing and had working lights on his bike at the time.
He was about halfway over the bridge when two cars came towards him.
Mr Clayton said: "They were coming at some speed.
"I couldn't say for sure if they were racing each other, but they were definitely driving too fast.
"The first car, which was a white Audi TT approached me too close and its wing mirror struck the front of my handlebar, sending me over the top and down the side of the bridge.
"I would say the fall must have been 15ft to 20ft."
Mr Clayton, who is single and has not worked since 2002 because of depression, was discovered by a passing motorist at 12.15am.
The driver stayed with him until emergency services arrived and he was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre, in Nottingham, where he was operated on for a broken left leg and broken pelvis.
He remained in hospital for almost a month.
Now he is home and out of plaster, Mr Clayton is on daily morphine for pain relief and can only walk with the aid of a frame or crutches.
He said: "I want to see whoever did this in court and I hope that by speaking out it will prick their conscience and they will come forward.
"But somehow I doubt that will happen."
A spokesman for the police said it was not ruling out hit and run as a cause of the accident.
He said: "Mr Clayton states two vehicles were driving towards him, possibly racing each other, when one of the vehicles clipped his handlebar."
Witnesses and those with information are asked to contact PC Simon Gore of the Roads Policing Unit on 101.
