Roads unsafe for cyclists, warns Lancashire rider's widow

Val Colledge said her husband's death was needless

The widow of a cyclist who suffered a fatal head injury after hitting a large crack in the road has expressed doubts about government plans to fix potholes.

Val Colledge, whose husband Harry, 84, died in January, spoke after the government pledged £8.3bn over the next 11 years to resurface roads.

A coroner concluded Mr Colledge would not have died if the council had fixed the road in Winmarleigh, Lancashire.

Mrs Colledge said English roads were unsafe for cyclists.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the funding would go to England's local councils for road maintenance.

However Mrs Colledge said: "The money isn't ring-fenced and if it isn't there is no guarantee it will be used for the roads."

She said cycling was her husband's "first love and, as it turned out, his last".

The inquest in October heard that Mr Colledge was flung from his bike in Winmarleigh, near Garstang, on 2 January after it got wedged in a crevice along Island Lane. He had a brain injury and a broken neck.

Coroner Kate Bisset said Lancashire County Council failed to previously identify or repair the 87m (285ft) long crack and in a narrative conclusion said if the road had been repaired the previous October it was "more likely than not that he would not have died".

"It was a needless death; it should not have happened - that crack had been reported several times," she said.

"The state of the road had been raised at a parish council meeting in [the previous] September.

"It's not fair to expect people to try and keep healthy - the government and health officials are saying the same thing 'go out on your bike; don't use your car', but the roads all over the country are just not safe for cyclists."

Keen cyclist Harry Colledge was a fit and active 84-year-old

Councillor Darren Rodwell, of Local Government Association, which represents councils in England and Wales, welcomed the government spending plan but said "it's not the £14bn we need" - he said they needed more.

Nadia Kerr, of the charity Cycling UK, also said the government's money "falls short of what is needed".

"Local roads where people are more likely to ride bikes need a proportionate amount of money so it doesn't all go to trunk roads," she said.

A parish councillor photographed the crack in the road in Winmarleigh

The Department for Transport said local authorities would get an extra £150m for road repairs this year, and the same amount for 2024 and 2025. The rest of the funding would be allocated over the next decade.

The government department said the funding was on top of £5.5bn for local roads maintenance announced before plans to scrap HS2 were made.

Speaking after the inquest concluded last month, Lancashire County Council's chief executive Angie Ridgwell said: "Our thoughts and condolences are with Mr Colledge's family, and we can assure them that we will be considering the findings of this inquest thoroughly and carefully."

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