Thompsons Solicitors has helped a cyclist secure more than £4,000 in compensation after he was injured in a road traffic accident.

56-year-old security guard, Anthony Keegan, was cycling home from work on Selvage Lane in Edgware when an oncoming car turned right into a driveway, cutting across his path.

Anthony had no time to avoid the car and crashed into the side of it, and the impact threw him onto its roof.

He was taken to hospital and found to have a soft tissue injury to his chest and a laceration on his chin, which needed 80 stitches. His bicycle was irreparably damaged.

Anthony had to have two weeks off work after the accident but returned before his injuries had healed because he couldn’t afford further time off.

The UNISON member instructed road traffic accident specialists, Thompsons Solicitors, to investigate his claim.

Anthony said: “I was cycling home from work during rush hour so traffic was almost at a standstill; I was moving slowly past the cars on my right with the kerb to my left. With no warning at all the driver of a car travelling in the opposite direction pulled across into a driveway on my left and by the time I saw the car coming across my path it was too late.

“The government is now planning to prevent people like me, injured through no fault of their own, from having free access to an independent lawyer. There is no way I could have taken on the insurers of the driver at fault on my own – legal representation was vital for me and there will be thousands like me.”

Bobbie Palmer, of Thompsons Solicitors, said: “Cyclists remain one of the most vulnerable road users in the country, and too often the outcome of a collision can be fatal.

“Anthony's accident was at around half past six on a summer evening - the driver’s visibility would have been excellent so there really was no excuse for pulling across without seeing Anthony as they swung into the drive.”