Image caption Margaret Hodge said the accident was completely her fault

Senior Labour MP Margaret Hodge has promised to be more careful in future, after hitting a cyclist with her car door.

Mrs Hodge was canvassing in her constituency in Barking, East London, when the incident happened on Wednesday at around 18:00 BST.

In a statement, her office said she hit the cyclist after parking her car.

She denied she was using a mobile phone at the time, although has admitted she was holding a phone in her hand.

The cyclist was said to be unharmed in the accident, which Mrs Hodge said was completely her fault.

The statement said: "Mrs Hodge had parked her car and the engine was switched off.

"As she was getting out of the vehicle she struck a cyclist with the car door.

"She acknowledges that the accident was completely her fault and that she should have been more careful, which she will be in future.

"She apologised profusely to the cyclist, who was unharmed. They shook hands before he went on his way.

"Mrs Hodge had her mobile phone in her hand as she left the car but was not using it."

Margaret Hodge is the chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee and a former culture minister.

She has been MP for Barking since a by-election in 1994.