Woman injured by lorry on Cambridge Midsummer Common but bonfire goes ahead

The woman was trapped under a dodgems lorry setting up for a fair on Midsummer Common

A serious injury to a woman cyclist at the site of an annual fireworks event in Cambridge has led to the cancellation of an associated funfair.

The woman, aged in her 50s, standing with her bike, became trapped under a lorry carrying dodgems on Wednesday.

She was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital with "serious leg and abdominal injuries".

Organisers said a bonfire event would go ahead because of expected large crowds, but the funfair was cancelled.

Cambridge City Council and Cambridge Live decided it would be inappropriate to go ahead with the funfair, while investigations were under way by police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

Police and the Health and Safety Executive are carrying out an investigation of the incident

Council chief executive Antoinette Jackson said: "The safety of members of the public at all our events is of paramount importance.

"We considered very carefully the impact of not going ahead with the event but concluded that if we cancelled, considerable numbers of people may still turn up.

"It was better to go ahead with a professionally managed bonfire and fireworks display rather than running the risk of large crowds turning up with no event.

"We have provided the event for many years as a safe alternative to people putting on their own displays and very large numbers of people, in the region of 25,000, attend the event."

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, said its officers helped ambulance staff rescue the woman from under the vehicle.