A STUDENT who rushed to help coordinate traffic after an accident which resulted in a cyclist being hospitalised has thanked residents who helped him.

21-year-old Dan Johnson was cycling in Maldon to visit his grandparents on Sunday morning last week when he witnessed the shocking accident between a cyclist and car, resulting in the cyclist, a man in his 50s, being sedated and flown to the Royal London Hospital.

The accident, which took place at the bottom of Market Hill, led to traffic building up from the high street as police and ambulance services blocked off the road. Seeing this, Mr Johnson, of Laindon, Basildon, decided to help out by cycling back to the roundabout at the top of the hill to direct traffic away.

He said: “I was pretty shaken up after seeing the accident, but after the emergency services arrived I thought I should do something to help out.

“The traffic was chaos as cars could not get past the accident so I decided to block off the road with me and my bike. After about half hour of shouting, getting driven into and thrown abuse the Limes Hotel brought me out some water, traffic cones and had written up a sign to put up.

“I ended up being there for nearly an hour and a half in the midday heat and was thrown a lot of abuse from motorists but pedestrians were amazing in buying me water and asking if I was okay. So I praise them and another man who helped out.

“I did not know the man involved in the accident but I felt compelled to help in any way I could.

“So I would like to say thanks to the Limes Hotel and everyone that helped out and brought me water and hope that some motorists could perhaps be a little more human and respectful.”

The cyclist involved in the accident remains in hospital.