A YORK cyclist was blasted across the road when he was hit by the door of an exploding phonebox - the latest in a series of firework incidents in the city.

Martyn Miller, 36, co-op director of York Cycle Works in Lawrence Street, was cycling along Melrosegate,Tang Hall, at about 6.10pm yesterday when the door of the phonebox hit him from the side.

Mr Miller, who was on his way to his Huntington home, said he was forced into the path of an oncoming car, but did not fall off his bike.

He was left with cuts and bruises and his bike was severely damaged.

Mr Miller said: "I could see out of the side of my eye something in the phonebox, and as I went past it blew. I must have been six feet away and the whole thing just exploded.

"I must have known it was a firework and must have braced myself because I didn't come off the bike.

"The entire door hit me square on my left leg. It's black and blue. It knocked me six or seven feet across the road, and I just missed an oncoming car.

"The first thing I did was ring my wife. I was shaking like a leaf, and she told me to ring the police."

The phonebox was outside a parade of shops on the corner of Harington Avenue. York Police have confirmed the incident took place and that three youths were seen running from the scene shortly before the blast.

Mr Miller said: "When I turned around, the entire door and the workings of the phone were on the other side of the road, my leg was bruised and cut and the back end of my bike was bent out of shape."

Telephone boxes in Tang Hall Lane, Hull Road and Bell Farm Avenue were destroyed by fireworks at the weekend. A fourth at another location in Melrosegate was damaged when a wheelie bin containing fireworks was pushed inside, and a telephone box in Murton, York, was also destroyed in a blast on Monday night.

Updated: 14:21 Wednesday, October 15, 2003