THE wife of a Flamingo Land worker and committed fundraising cyclist who suffered serious injuries after an accident while riding his bike has launched a petition to improve road safety.

Dave Holberry, who had cycled each day to work at the most popular paid-for attraction in Yorkshire and the North-East, near Pickering, from Norton, in Ryedale, said he had been left so traumatised by the accident he fears he will never get on a bike again.

The 59-year-old suffered a broken hip, three broken ribs, collapsed lung, a broken elbow and collar bone after colliding with a car on the Old Malton roundabout last month.

He said: “All I remember was cycling on the roundabout when a car came up the slip road from the A64 and hit me. I ended up on the floor with the bike on top of me and after that I slipped in and out of consciousness.

“My helmet was slit all the way down and there was a mark on my head where it had indented - if I hadn’t been wearing it I wouldn’t be alive.”

Mr Holberry was airlifted to James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough ,where he was put in an induced coma.

He said: “I was in hospital for ten days and now have a plate in my elbow and collarbone, as well as a new hip as it would have been too big a job to repair it.

“I used to cycle at least 100 miles a week, but now I am not sleeping and getting flashbacks. My bike hardly has a mark on it but I’ve had it taken away as I won’t be riding it again- this has been completely life-changing for me.”

Mr Holberry said he expected to be off work for at least another month, and was now having physiotherapy.

His wife, Mandy, with whom he has raised thousands of pounds for charity through sponsored rides, is calling for safety measures in the area, including cycle lanes.

She said: “There is also the issues of potholes which are unbelievable round here and force cyclists to swerve round them into the path of cars.

“We have been married for more than 30 years and this had been the most devastating thing to happen to us. He has a long way to go, but he is lucky to be alive.”

Cycling charity Sustrans said it was in the early stages of planning a cycle route from Malton to Pickering with Ryedale District Council. It is understood the route could also be linked at each end to the National Cycle Network.