A MOTHER has vowed to give up cycling on the road after a drunken lad jumped out in front of her bike and knocked her to the ground breaking her arm and pelvis.
Janice Morton, who lives off Cowpe Road, Waterfoot, has been cycling for years with her family. They had been mountain biking above Cowpe and were returning home on Market Street, Bacup, when the accident happened.
She said: "There were five of us on our bikes and we saw this group of about eight lads and lasses they looked about late teens to early 20s and they seemed drunk.
"One lad jumped out in front of us waving his arms in the air and I could not stop because I was going too fast.
"I banged into him and I ended up on the floor and then my husband also knocked into him.
"After what happened I am not going to cycle on the road again, I am going to stick to mountain biking off road. It is just too dangerous."
Mrs Morton, 41, was taken to Rochdale Infirmary where a break in her upper arm was noticed. When she returned to the fracture clinic two days' ago they discovered her pelvis was also broken.
She said: "I am in a lot of pain, I can't walk, can't sit down and can't lie down. I am also self-employed in the family business AD Morton in Bacup where I am secretary and do wages and accounts and there is no-one else to do it so I will have to struggle in.
"They said it will take two to three months for my pelvis to heal and about six weeks for my arm to repair.
"That means our holidays are ruined because we always go cycling in the Lake District or the Yorkshire Dales and now we will have to go sight-seeing in the car."
Her husband Andrew suffered bruising. With them were son George, 13, her brother Dave Plant and his wife Pam.
When the accident happened, at 5.30pm on Sunday, a girl with the group apologised to Mrs Morton. But then as the group continued into Bacup they began shouting and jeering at the family.
The ringleader was wearing a beige top with red stripes down the shoulder and had short dark hair. The girl was wearing a baseball cap with her pony tail out of the back and a Union Jack top.
If anyone witnessed the incident or knows any member of the group they should contact PC Mark Newton on 01706 237464.
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