A cyclist has appealed for dog owners to take precautions after being seriously injured by an "out of control animal" on a cycle path.

Stuart Butler, 42, expects be off work for at least three months following the incident on the new cycle route by Powderham Castle in Kenton, near Exeter this week.

He says a small black dog ran between the wheels of his bike, causing him to fall and shatter his arm.

Stuart, who works as a train driver, told Devon Live: "I'm 42 years old so I'm not one of these cyclists that goes racing.

“I was just out on a nice late afternoon ride to keep fit when I was knocked of my bike as I was approaching Powderham crossing by a young out of control little black dog which ran straight into my wheels. It was impossible to avoid.

"It was an area where there is two separate paths one on top of bank and the new cycle path below. The dog had run down from the bank and when I fell off the bike I came straight down on my elbow and left side.

"I was in absolute agony and had to wait 90 minutes for the ambulance, but it never turned up because they were dealing with higher priority cases and mine wasn't an open wound.

"A cyclist stopped for assistance and the dog owner stayed with me until I was collected and taken to hospital. In the end my wife picked me up and took me to the hospital."

He will now be in plaster for 12 weeks.

"The owner admitted they did not have much control over the dog yet as he was young," said Stuart. "If he had been on a lead it wouldn't have happened. I like dogs and I've got nothing against them, but if they share a footpath with cyclists then dogs not under control need to be on a lead.

"My concern is what happened to me could happen to anyone, especially now we're in the Easter holidays and coming into the summer months.”

In 2015 we reported how a man knocked off his bike by an out-of-control dog on a retractable lead won a £65,000 payout from the dog’s owner. Anthony Steele, 59, suffered a fractured skull when the dog leapt into his path while he was training for a Coast to Coast to event in Heysham in 2012.

Steele was riding with 10 other people when he noticed a group of people in the middle of the path and rang his bell to let them know he needed them to move aside.

However, as he passed by, a dog leapt in front of him and his bike became caught up with the retractable lead causing him to fall. Steele was off work for seven weeks and required neuro-psychotherapeutic therapy and cognitive rehab.