I REFER to Saturday’s article, ‘Cyclists way too fast and furious’. On Saturday afternoon my husband and I were walking along the promenade towards Bournemouth when I was hit from behind by a cyclist.

I received first aid from the lifeguard and was advised to seek further medical assistance as the shoulder he hit was already traumatised with a painful frozen shoulder.

This man’s reckless action has a physical cost to me of severe pain and sleepless nights since, as well as the financial cost to the state of the services of the excellent staff at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital who X-rayed and treated me.

The lifeguard had spotted this cyclist earlier going in the opposite direction but he was going too fast for the lifeguard to stop him. It turned out that not only was this man travelling way too fast but his brakes weren’t working either.

If I was driving my car on the road with no brakes and hit a pedestrian I would be prosecuted, and rightly so. But all the Bournemouth Borough Council rep could do was take the man’s name and number and pass this on to the police, who may issue a warning.

In my opinion this is far from satisfactory. Tougher laws, bike safety checks and proper speed limits need to be introduced along the promenade – and a much better idea for everyone’s safety would be a total ban on cyclists on what is essentially a busy pedestrian pavement.

SUSAN KELLY, The Avenue, Poole