Passers-by are reported to have formed a human chain to block the road after a cyclist was struck by a car at the notorious Bank junction in the City of London yesterday. The victim, a man in his forties, was taken to hospital with facial injuries. His condition was initially described as critical before later being downgraded.

The London Evening Standard reports that the collision took place shortly after 6pm.

A witness said:

“I looked around and saw the cyclist flying off his bike out of the corner of my eye. There was this gasp from the crowd then silence. His eyes were closed and he was bleeding from his mouth, just lying on the road. When he did open his eyes, he was completely out of it. “People were standing in the road to protect his body from other cars. We were too scared to move him. One lady held his hand the whole time and was asking him loads of questions to keep him conscious but he couldn’t respond.”

Last June, Ying Tao was cycling to work when she was killed by a truck at Bank junction. Following a three-day inquest last month, law firm Leigh Day wrote to the City of London police asking them to review their decision not to prosecute the lorry driver involved.

Referring to that incident, the witness added: “That junction is always manic. I was there just after that poor lady was killed. Since then I have been so careful crossing. I’m surprised there haven’t been more accidents there, there are so many big construction trucks coming through around rush hour – it has to change.”

Another witness, Garreth Hayes, said: “Having five roads meeting at a single junction is a bad idea. Couple that with awful signposts, lights, and pedestrians all over the place and you just feel it’s going to keep happening.”

The driver stopped at the scene and is helping police with their investigation.