A CYCLIST who suffered horrific injuries after he was hit by a 40-tonne motorway sweeper has finally been awarded more than £200,000 in compensation.

Dr Glyn Powell was cycling home from his job as a control operator at Eggborough Power Station, near Selby, when the heavy vehicle hit him from behind.

The sweeper buckled his bike and its wing mirror hit Dr Powell in the back of the head, putting a gash in his skull and triggering bleeding in his brain.

He suffered a stroke and was left paralysed. Now, two-and-a-half years later, he has regained some mobility and has won almost a quarter of a million pounds in an out-of-court settlement with sweeper operator RK and CE Smallwood, of Sutton-on-Derwent, near York.

"Obviously the money won't bring back my mobility," said the 58-year-old, who is now able to walk with pauses every few minutes.

"I've always been fit and active and I've lost that, so no amount of money would be adequate to compensate me for that, but in terms of my head being better and given my financial situation, I'm quite happy with it."

Dr Powell, who had been making the one-mile trip to and from the power station from his Kellington home since starting at the plant more than ten years ago, was cycling along the A19 at about 4.30pm one afternoon in November 2005. He was just about to turn into Raoll Lane when the accident happened.

"I was about to turn down there when I was hit on the back of the head," he said. "The side mirror hit me - I had the impression of a mirror on the back of my head for about two months afterwards, and a hole in my head.

Fortunately, help was at hand. "A passing doctor stopped and tended to me," Dr Powell said.

"Apparently I was jumping up, trying to whack everyone, because I thought someone had hit me. All I can recall was a thump. I was covered in blood."

He was wearing a fluorescent jacket at the time and his bike was fitted with three red back lights and two white front lights. He was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary and spent ten days in intensive care.

He spent several months there and in the stroke centre at the town's Kirkhill Road Hospital.

Dr Powell, who trained as a chemical engineer and spent most of his working life in the industry, said he was only able to afford the legal action thanks to his trade union, Unite, which employed personal injury specialists Thompsons Solicitors, even though the accident did not happen in the workplace. The staunch trade unionist said: "I think the case illustrates the value of working people being trade union members, because without that it's doubtful I would have been able to meet the costs."

He also praised his employer. Despite having to retire from the plant last month due to ill-health, he said: "I've got nothing but praise for British Energy. I wish all my employers had been that caring."

A spokesman for RK and CE Smallwood declined to comment, saying only that he was very sorry about the accident.