A cyclist who came under criticism for knocking down a toddler on a pavement, in what has been described as a "hit and run" incident, says his life has been "destroyed" after the CCTV footage was released.

The cyclist, who was wearing a bright orange jacket at the time of the accident and was travelling along the pavement at speed, has said the public have verbally attacked him for an incorrect version of events.

The released footage showed a three-year-old girl, Lucie Wilding, being hit and dragged along the pavement by the bicycle as she stepped out onto the pavement from her front garden.

Mr Andrew Holland, a computer games design graduate from Blackpool, claims he had apologised to Lucie’s mother, Lauren Howarth, age 26, after the incident and did not know that cycling on the pavement was illegal.

Lucie Wilding, 3, was left with cuts and bruises to her face, hands and knees after she was knocked over outside her home in Blackpool.