CCTV footage captures Boris Johnson's cycling "near death experience"

Dramatic CCTV footage (below) caught what London Mayor Boris Johnson described as a "near death experience" last Friday morning while he was cycling on the streets of London. The mayor was out riding on a prospective route for one of the 'cycling super-highways" mooted for the capital accompanied by Transport Minister Lord Adonis and the Mayor's head of transport policy, Kulveer Ranger.

The three were amongst a group of cyclists who can be seen coming around a bend on the street in Canary Wharf when they are overtaken by a fairly fast moving recycling lorry. As it passes the group one of the lorry's rear doors swings open hitting one parked car and then hooking on to another and flnging it across the road into the path of the cyclists who are obscured by the back of the lorry.

In the CCTV footage the lorry driver can be seen getting out of his cab and inspecting the damage to the cars… his day then takes a real turn for the worse when Boris appears, bike helmet in hand and scratching his head, which given the circumstances was admirably restrained of him.

Boris did managed to extract one positive from the experience as an aide to the mayor told the Guardian An aide to the mayor said: "It was pretty awful. "They were shaken up and Boris was shocked. But it makes the case even more for his super highways."