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A young woman has been left scarred for life after being knocked down on the pavement by a speeding cyclist who fled as she was treated at the scene.

Andrea McVeigh, a social media manager based at an advertising agency in Fitzrovia, was walking with her husband near their Bermondsey home when the cyclist sent her crashing face-first onto the concrete.

A passer-by stopped to help while her husband Patric Baird dialled 999 before keeping watch as the cyclist went to lock up his racing bike, near Sainsbury’s in Tower Bridge Road.

Instead of waiting for emergency services to arrive, the man aged around 30, shaven-headed and 6ft tall, leapt back onto the saddle and sped down an alley into Bermondsey Square.

He paused to turn his head and smile before pedalling away through a graveyard of St Mary Magdelen Church.

Ms McVeigh was taken into the lobby of a neighbouring apartment block and given first aid before being rushed to St Thomas’ Hospital where she was treated for a potential neck fracture and deep cuts to her forehead.

She has been told by doctors that the scars are unlikely to ever heal.

She also suffered a broken nose, dislocated finger and head trauma and has been unable to return to work following the crash at 6pm last Tuesday.

Ms McVeigh has now turned to Twitter to catch the cyclist, saying Met police initially informed her there were “no leads”. The force has since promised to “double-check” its original investigation.

Ms McVeigh told the Standard: “The cyclist was on the pavement and ploughed into me, from the left. No warning, sudden impact. A very, violent collision.

“I was thrown up the street and landed on my face with the cyclist and his bike on my back. I came to and my mouth was filled with blood. I was worried all my teeth had been knocked out.

“I staggered up with the help of a friendly female stranger, with blood pouring down my face and saw that my little finger was pointing out at a right angle - totally dislocated.

“I screamed at the sight of the blood and finger. I knew something terrible had happened but I didn’t know what.”

Ms McVeigh was given water and tissues to clean her wounds as her husband waited outside with the cyclist.

She said: “He said he was going to lock-up his bike. He went into the space between Sainsbury’s and Bermondsey Square, with my husband following him, then got on his bike and took off with my husband running after him calling for him to stop.

“The cyclist sped through Bermondsey Square, turned around and smiled at my husband, then he crossed the street and cycled through the St Mary Magdalen Churchyard.”

Ms McVeigh said she felt let down by the original police investigation and released harrowing pictures of her injuries on Twitter to spur officers into action.

The personal campaign prompted an email from borough commander Zander Gibson, who promised to “double-check” CCTV footage, which has now been collected by detectives.

He wrote: “The initial report showed no leads and in these cases we would not take any further action. However, on reviewing it and listening to your comments, I think we need to double-check CCTV opportunities.”

Ms McVeigh added: “I need to know that he’ll get caught and face up to what he’s done. I want all cyclists to be more careful in future and not break the law by cycling on the pavement.

I don’t think I’ll ever get over this and the forehead scar will be a daily lifetime reminder of what happened.“