A "mystified" 84-year-old who was thrown from his bike after hitting a pothole is back home after spending four days in hospital with serious injuries.

Don Butcher, of Burgh Heath Road, Epsom, was taken to St George's hospital, in Tooting, last Friday, June 13, after the accident left him unconscious, with two broken ribs and a fractured jaw. 

The ex-Atkins engineer hit the pothole on Church Street, in Epsom, close to the Ye Olde King's Head pub, at 3.50pm. 

Mr Butcher told the Epsom Guardian yesterday  the incident has left "one side on my face black" and he cannot remember anything about the crash.

He said: "I lost consciousness and I am still somewhat mystified by the cause of the accident.

"My son has examined the road and the nature of the long strips of longitudinal potholes.

"His theory is riding a bike over them is like riding a bike over tramlines.

"You can't control the wheel or balance.

"I don't know whether I went over in the bike and fell onto the pavement or went into the brick wall.

"It's still a mystery.

"I have no idea where I was found."

Your Local Guardian:

Mr Butcher, an experienced cyclist who rides around Box Hill, said he uses his bike to shop because "Epsom is impossible from the point of view of using a car".

He said the potholes in Church Street have been there "for some time" and he will be demanding answers for his accident from Surrey County Council (SCC), as well as contacting Surrey Police and cycling charity CTC - which is spearheading a national campaign to raise awareness of the peril of potholes.

"Surrey is very sadly notorious from the point of view of potholes now.

"They are very dangerous for bikes, as well as for cars," he added.

On Friday, SCC announced the Government had given it an extra £3.8m to fill more of its potholes.

Last July, it unveiled its five-year, £100m Project Horizon to overhaul the roads in Surrey which need it most - with £6m being allocated to Epsom and Ewell.

Your Local Guardian:

Chris Peck, CTC spokesman, said: "If you're in a car and hit a pothole you can damage your suspension or wheel, but on a bike you can be seriously injured or even killed.

"We have been campaigning for local authorities to look after the roads better, fix the problems and provide more resources to resurface roads properly to begin with and ensure these resources are being provided by the Government."

Your Local Guardian:

He added: "Surrey is a county which has had a bad record over the years. 

"It scores lower with residents in pothole surveys and goes quite far down the list. 

"There has been a slight improvement in the last year as SCC has done a lot of work through its £100m Project Horizon. 

"But that's still only for 30 per cent of the roads.  What about the other 70 per cent?

"The extra cash is welcome but we need is for local authorities to have really sure long-term funding from Government so they can invest properly in that."

Your Local Guardian:

To report a pothole visit www.fillthathole.org.uk.  Local authorities are directly informed when a pothole is logged.

What do you think about potholes in the area? Leave a comment below or email Hardeep Matharu on hmatharu@london.newsquest.co.uk.