A WOMAN had to go to hospital after being knocked down by a delivery rider in Newport city centre last week.
Elvina Lewis, 67, was leaving Starbucks in the Kingsway Centre at around 3.30pm and headed out onto John Frost Square.
“I took about six to eight steps,” she said. “I didn’t know what hit me. They must’ve been going so fast.
“It’s a pedestrian area and he must’ve been going fast otherwise he wouldn’t have hit me.”
Ms Lewis was taken back into Starbucks while members of the public who witnessed the incident looked after her and flagged down a nearby community support officer.
She later attended hospital, where they found she had broken a bone in her elbow, suffered bruising, and had a hematoma in her leg.
“My foot was swollen,” she added. “I’ve got a boot for my foot, so I can’t drive. I’m stuck in the house.”
“You still see these bikes in town. I wouldn’t have thought an e-bike would’ve been coming through there.
“If it was a toddler or an 85-year-old pensioner with a stick going out of that coffee shop I don’t want to think what would have happened. They shouldn’t be on those bikes on John Frost Square.
“It will keep happening and happening if someone doesn’t do anything about it.”
Ms Lewis said there were signs saying not to cycle in Friars Walk, but said she didn’t feel these were enough to deter cyclists are were not being enforced.
“I feel like Friars Walk and the security company they use should have a duty of care,” she said.
“I would like to know what is being done about it and what can be done. Because whatever is being done now doesn’t work.”
A spokesperson for Friars Walk said: “Our security team, cleaning team and centre management team patrol regularly and will stop cyclists and e-bike riders, asking them to dismount and push their bikes through the pedestrian areas.
“It is an ongoing challenge and our team have also asked restaurants in the area to speak to their delivery partners and remind them of the location of various bike racks available in the vicinity and asking them to dismount before the pedestrian boundary of Friars Walk.”
A Gwent Police spokesperson said: “We received a report of a collision between a pedestrian and a cyclist which took place outside the Kingsway Shopping Centre, Newport, at around 3.30pm, on Wednesday, October 12.
“The pedestrian received minor injuries.
“Enquiries are ongoing to locate the cyclist who reportedly left the scene. He is believed to be a Just Eat courier.
“Anyone who may have witnessed the collision can call us on 101 or send us a direct message on Facebook or Twitter, quoting log reference 2200346298 with any details.
“Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
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