A MOTHER and daughter are urging cyclists to slow down in a popular park after their dog nearly died in a crash with a bicycle.

Lucy, a springer spaniel, suffered a smashed jaw after she was in collision with a bike in Castle Park.

Her owners Brenda Taylor and Jennifer Gardiner were walking the spaniel near the duck pond recently when they say a cyclist sweep round a corner.

Mrs Taylor, an administrator, of Ipswich Road, Colchester, said there was too little time to react and the spaniel collided with the bike.

She was dragged for 20m along the ground in the bike’s wheel.

Mrs Taylor said she believed her pet would not have survived without the help of the Willows Vetinary Centre in Mersea Road, Colchester, which helped stabilise Lucy before she could be transferred to a veterinary hospital in Cambridge.

There she was fitted with a metal bar and a plate to hold the jaw together in a three-hour operation.

She is now back at home, but still has to be spoon fed.

Mrs Taylor said: “It was horrifying. There was blood everywhere.

“The vets said they had never seen an injury that bad to the jaw.

“She is coping really well and fingers crossed she will make a full recovery.

“I just hope this will make cyclists think twice about speeding along public paths and make other dog walkers more vigilant when they are walking along that stretch of path.

“I don’t ever want what happened to Lucy to happen to anyone ever again.”

Her daughter, Jenny, 24, of Providence Place, Colchester, agreed She said: “It was a terrifying thing to watch and we just want to warn cyclists and people walking through the park to be careful.

“Lucy has been lucky, but a smaller dog could have come off a lot worse.”

The accident has been reported to police.

Anyone with information should call PC Jenna Newell at Colchester police on 0300 3334444.