Transport secretary Chris Grayling could face criminal charges after footage emerged of him knocking a cyclist off his bike, a Labour MP believes.

Ian Austin has reportedly contacted the Metropolitan Police, and is writing to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Secretary, and the chief civil servant at the Department for Transport after footage obtained by The Guardian showed cyclist Jaiqi Liu, 35, crashing to the pavement, and his bike smashing into a lamppost on October 12.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman could not confirm that the matter had been reported.

The footage also shows Mr Grayling get out of the car and walk over to Mr Liu to see if he was alright.

The Epsom and Ewell MP can be seen in the video bending over and putting his hand on Mr Liu’s shoulder and speaking to him as he sat on the pavement.

The pair then shook hands.

A spokesman for Mr Grayling said he immediately went to apologise to Mr Liu about the “unfortunate accident”.

Mr Austin, former chairman of the All-Party Cycling Group, said footage of the incident shows that Mr Grayling "flung" his car door open, leaving the cyclist in a "state of shock" on the pavement.

The transport secretary's car was in a stationary queue of traffic near the Palace of Westminster waiting for lights to change when Mr Liu's bicycle passed it on the inside.

Labour MP for Dudley North Ian Austin wrote to Theresa May claiming Mr Grayling had commited two offences:

  • opening the door of any vehicle on any road (or causing or permitting a door to be opened) so as to injure or endanger any person, contrary to regulation 105 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986; and
  • failing to provide details after a collision which results in injury to another road user (or to an animal, or damage to another vehicle or other nearby property), contrary to Section 170 of he Road Traffic Act 1988.

Mr Austin added: "Opening a car door in a way that injures someone is an offence and can result in serious injury and even death.

"Despite this, Mr Grayling didn't even provide his details so he could pay for the damage.

"Anyone can make a mistake, but I don't think you can have a Secretary of State who has injured another road user, could have committed an offence and failed even to provide his details afterwards.

"And then later, after causing this incident, the Secretary of State complained about cyclists and cycle lanes in London."

Mr Liu, who works at the World Bank, told the Guardian that he was in shock after the accident and only became aware later of pain in his back, legs and head.

He said the incident damaged his bike's wheel, brakes, mudguard and lights.

Mr Liu said he had informed the police in order to ensure the incident was logged, but did not expect it to be investigated. He did not recognise Mr Grayling at the time.

"It's my first and only accident and it came out of the blue," he told the newspaper.

"Definitely he should stay a bit longer to check on me. But maybe he had something more important than this to rush to."

He added: "And he says cycle lanes are the problem, which makes me angry. If he is still in the position to make cities safer for cyclists, he needs to do something."

The footage came from a camera mounted on the handlebars of another cyclist, Laurence de Hoest, who told The Guardian: "I ride into London every day and I've had a couple of close calls, so I record everything.

"This is the minister of transport and here he is swinging his door out."

He added that the incident, which occurred on a stretch of road 20 metres before a cycle lane is restored, showed that "your cycle lane is only as good as your weakest link. We need to make sure they are properly connected."

The transport secretary's spokesman said: "This was an unfortunate accident.

"Mr Grayling got out of the car, checked the cyclist was OK and waited until he was back on his feet. Mr Grayling spoke to the cyclist and apologised; they shook hands before he left."

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: "At this stage police cannot confirm the this matter has been reported."

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