‘Put brakes on compensation for cyclists’

Taxpayers have forked out £334,400 in compensation pay-outs to cyclists who fell off their bikes on military land.

Odd claims include a biker skidding on freshly painted road markings and another who ended up head-first in a pile of gravel.

Critics labelled the payments “ludicrous”.

“This would be laughable if it wasn’t so remarkably costly,” said Jonathan Isaby, of the Taxpayer’s Alliance.

“Compensation culture has got completely out of hand, and it is taxpayers that pick up the bill.”

Most of the 108 compensation claims made between 1986 and 2014 have been lodged by civilian workers and the families of servicemen and women.

A total of 51 cases have been settled, according to details published by the MoD.

They include a payout of £27,476 to one cyclist who was injured after slipping on mud.

Another was given £14,205 when he fell off after hitting an “unmarked sleeping policeman” while a biker skidding on a “slippery surface” cost £16,500.

Incredibly, the MoD agreed a settlement of nearly £6,500 after a dog ran out in front of a cyclist causing her to fall off her bike.

Others slipped on ice, “excessive leaves” and grease or fell into potholes in roads at military bases.

The MoD is estimated to have spent thousands defending spurious claims.

Kevin Clinton, head of road safety at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said the military needed to get a grip on problems such as poor road surfaces to stop pay-outs spiralling.

He said: “We’d advise the MoD to analyse the causes of these accidents to identify common causes so that they can put measures in place to prevent similar incidents happening in future.”

Military experts have warned that cuts in defence spending are posing a major threat to our armed services.

A spokesman for the MoD said: “The MOD considers compensation claims on the basis of its legal liability. Where there is a proven legal liability, compensation is paid.”