A CYCLIST suffered a broken collar bone when a driver sent him flying into a hedge - the latest victim of a disturbing weekly spate of hit-and-run incidents in the Basingstoke area.

David Drewett-O'Shea, 23, was knocked off his bike, as he cycled from Worting around the West Ham Roundabout.

Recovering at home, he said: "Something just clipped the back of me, and the next thing I knew, I went head first in front of a tree and was in a lot of pain.

"I saw a silver car, but by the time I realised what had happened, it was gone. I lay there for what felt like five minutes and I knew that I'd hurt myself quite badly. I touched my collar bone and I thought it was broken.

"The driver didn't stop - he was probably on the phone, or not paying attention or didn't care what happened. It would be good to know who it was because I'd like to find out why he didn't bother to stop."

Mr Drewett-O'Shea was hidden from view in the undergrowth, so nobody came to his help. He managed to pick himself up and walked to his home in St Michael's Road, wheeling his bicycle behind him with his fit arm.

Doctors at Basingstoke hospital later told him his collar bone was broken in four places. They inserted a metal plate and signed him off from his job as a computer salesman for up to three weeks.

The hit-and-run, which happened at 9.30pm on June 5, has put him off cycling.

He said: "I had been cycling a lot before this happened and my girlfriend had persuaded me to buy a bicycle helmet. If I hadn't been wearing it, I would probably have had a nasty head injury because the helmet was scratched and dented."

WPc Gemma Maxwell, of Basingstoke police, told The Gazette hit-and-runs are all too common in Basingstoke and that roundabouts are a problem area.

"We get probably six hit-and-runs a week," she said. "Normally, it's a shunt up the back or a damaged wing mirror, and the other party drives off.

"We don't get a lot of injuries, but there is the sad fact for the owners of the damaged car that someone's driven off, leaving them with hundreds of pounds worth of damage.

"It's totally reckless to drive off and leave somebody lying in the road if you know you've hit them. It's appalling behaviour, and it's an offence if you don't stop and exchange your details. If we find out you've failed to stop, we will prosecute and you will go to court."

She appealed for anyone who saw the incident involving Mr Drewett-O'Shea to contact Basingstoke police on 0845 045 45 45.