A cyclist has called on highway bosses to "curb the kerb" after an accident left her unable to walk for nearly three months.

Dawn Shoard, from Hythe, struck the kerb on her bike and was sent crashing to the ground, breaking her tibia and elbow.

She told our sister paper the Folkestone and Hythe Express she was "really, really pleased" to have been wearing a helmet adding: “I could have landed on my head, I could have been dead.”

Mrs Shoard, 74, was the second person in the space of two days to be injured after hitting the kerb and says it was not prominent or visible enough to cyclists.

An active pensioner who cycled and swam daily before the crash, Mrs Shoard is now laid up in bed staying with her sister in Sevenoaks.

Doctors have told her she cannot get back on her feet for 10 weeks.

The crash happened on the promenade along Hythe seafront by the car park near Seabrook petrol station, on June 16.

Mrs Shoard said: “I live near the Imperial Hotel and was cycling towards Folkestone to meet some friends for lunch and a swim.

“Alongside the path a person was walking so I moved on to the path to move around and him and the next thing I know I was on the floor and must have clipped the kerb and gone over the handlebars.

“Another cyclist came along and said did I mind if he took a photo as a record as it happened to him two days earlier. His elbows and legs were all scabbed.

“I’ve had a fractured tibia which has had to be pinned. I’ve had a fractured elbow. I can’t bear any weight on my right side.

“I can only hop about three metres and have to be helped by my sister. It’s going to be 10 to 12 weeks until I can walk and will have to learn again because of the muscle waste.

“The hospital said because of my age I might have to have a knee replacement in a couple of years which isn’t going to be fun.

“I don’t know if curb the kerb is a good headline but it’s how I feel. It was concrete colour and difficult to see. You don’t notice it every day.

“They installed them and went away and didn’t paint them. If they had it would have clicked in your mind they were there.

"I could have landed on my head, I could have been dead" - Dawn Shoard

“They weren’t prominent and the path is quite narrow there and was only overtaking one person not a group of people.”

Mrs Shoard is urging cyclists to make sure they wear a helmet when riding saying she was grateful she had not landed on her head.

She told the Express: “I was worried because the school holidays are coming up and there will be a lot of visitors and people using the promenade; dog walkers and children skateboards and scooters.

“I’m really, really pleased I was wearing a helmet because I could have landed on my head, I could have been dead.”

Mrs Shoard says she is determined to get back in the saddle as soon as possible: “I either cycle or swim every day of the year unless there’s a storm.

“I’m really frustrated because I’m so immobile and missing all the sea swimming and the best months.

“I’m unable to look after my grandchildren over the summer. It’s thrown everything out.”

Mrs Shoard said on a normal day she would cycle between eight to 10 miles.

Fellow cyclist, Simon Foster, came off his bike at the same place just two days earlier.

He said: “It should be at least painted or a higher barrier instead of a curb.

“I’m even thinking of painting the kerb myself. I find it unbelievable that the council has not even done that.

“Maybe they are waiting for someone to break their neck?”

Kent County Council has been approached for comment.

The Express reported last week how a cyclist had blamed a poor surface for a crash after hitting a pothole on one of Shepway busiest roads.

Clare Pryke, from Hythe, was left with nasty injuries after crashing in Sandgate whilst riding home from Folkestone.

She was sent flying over the handlebars and crashing into the pavement, landing on her head.

She has now called for the A259 at Sandgate Hill and the bottom of the hill into Sandgate High Street to be completely resurfaced to prevent further injuries.

A Kent County Council spokesman said Sandgate High Street was resurfaced three years ago from Military Road to the monument and more recently Sandgate Hill has had work to fill potholes.

“We will continue to monitor the road and make it safe where appropriate.”