A CYCLIST has described the terrifying moment a motorist drove deliberately into him.

The 47-year-old man from Shoebury, who did not want to be named, was injured after the car hit him as he rode across the junction of Burges Road and Thorpe Hall Avenue, in Thorpe Bay.

He was cycling home from work at about 3.30pm, and said the driver had shouted at him prior to knocking him off his bike when they passed Thorpe Greenways infant and junior schools.

The driver had been following behind him as far as the junction of Burges Road and Thorpe Hall Avenue, where the driver caught the man’s bike with his car.

The cyclist added: “He turned in the road and just came straight at me.

“He was shouting and screaming at me – he was really going ballistic.

“One of the people who stopped to help me up had been in a car behind him.

“I didn’t say anything because it was such a shock.

“That is the trouble with being on a bike – it is probably once a week someone gets too close, talking on a phone or not taking notice.”

The driver left the scene after hitting the cyclist, who was treated for cuts and bruises at Southend Hospital.

He added: “I have scrapes and bruises and I was concussed. I am feeling pretty nauseous.

“Obviously, the more witnesses the better. I know there were a few people who were there.

“Anyone who wants to come forward will only strengthen the case.”

Police say the car was a maroon, M-registration Mercedes, and the motorist headed towards Shoebury. Anyone with information about the incident on Tuesday, May 25, should contact Sgt Paul Stacey at Rayleigh road policing unit, on 0300 3334444.