A CYCLIST who was hit by two cars on a country road in Oxfordshire died from multiple injuries, the Coroner has concluded.

Leigh Reilly, a 38-year-old groundworker from Bicester, died on Wednesday, January 15.

An inquest into his death concluded last week where Assistant Coroner Sonia Hayes said Mr Reilly had died in a road traffic collision under the influence of drugs.

She said: “Leigh Reilly died on the B4100 Stoke Lyne, Bicester on 15th January 2020 riding his bicycle on the wrong side of the road.

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“He was struck by a Kia Picanto and then a Renault Scenic who were unable to avoid him.

“He was under the influence of illicit drugs and it is probable his judgment was impaired. He died of multiple injuries.”

Mr Reilly was said to be wearing ‘dark clothing’ in an area where the B-road was ‘unlit’. He was pronounced dead at 6.37am.

Changes to Oxfordshire's roads to make them safer for cyclists and pedestrians, funded by £597,000 from the government, are to begin soon.

The near £600,000 of funding comes from the government's emergency active travel fund, which is designed to encourage people to get on bikes or walk to work after the lockdown.

Over the summer the focus will be on improving pavements and cycle routes, new bike parking facilities in the county's market towns and Oxford, changing traffic signal timings to prioritise pedestrians and cyclists, and restricting delivery times in some city centre streets.