Lorry driver arrested over cyclist's death on A49 near Shrewsbury

Tributes were today paid to Michael John Saunders, 61, who had worked for more than 20 years at Mr Bun the Bakers in Church Stretton on the night shift and also worked at a Bayston Hill printing firm where he worked the day shift.

He had finished his night shift at 3am on Monday and was cycling towards Shrewsbury on the A49. His body was found two hours later and it is believed he was hit by a vehicle, which failed to stop between 3.30am and 4am.

Police have spent hours studying CCTV images and issued an appeal to early morning motorists to contact them with any information.

Yesterday they disclosed they had traced a lorry believed to have been involved in the collision and travelled to South Wales to interview its driver.

Sergeant Mike Waterworth said today: "The lorry driver, a 39-year-old man, has now been formally arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

"He was interviewed yesterday and given police bail while inquiries continue."

Mr Saunders was a keen golfer who enjoyed several holidays to Portugal. He lived in a flat in Hereford Road, Bayston Hill, and was a regular drinker in the nearby Compasses pub in the village.

Alvan Rogers, a 64-year-old lorry driver from Bayston Hill, knew Mr Saunders well from The Compasses.

He said: "Everyone liked him. He was only about five foot tall, not very big at all. But he was a real character. Everyone thought the world of him and worked very hard.

"He had a night job at a bakery down in Stretton and then a day job at a printers here in Bayston Hill. We know he was on his way back from his night shift when he was killed. Everyone around here was very shocked to hear he had died. It is a real shame."

Mr Saunders died on the stretch of road between Leebotwood and Dorrington.

A police investigation was launched and an appeal issued for witnesses who spotted him travelling the A49.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil Jamieson, the officer leading the investigation, said he was anxious to trace two lorry drivers known to have travelled along the A49 through Dorrington and Bayston Hill at that time.

The death of Mr Saunders was the third fatality on Shrewsbury's roads this week. On Saturday Hanwood grandmother Glenda Crump was killed on the B5061 and on Monday 27-year-old Shaun Stealey from Oswestry died on the B5067 Berwick Road, near Shrewsbury.