TWO cyclists were involved in crashes which brought traffic to a standstill yesterday.

A pedestrian was hurt in a collision with a cyclist outside the Royal Oxford Hotel in Frideswide Square, Oxford, at about 8.20am.

The woman in her 30s was hit by the cyclist as she tried to cross the road in front of the hotel.

Firefighters, police officers and paramedics were called to the scene and she was taken to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital with head injuries. She was described as in a serious condition.

The 50-year-old woman cyclist was treated at the scene.

One man who saw the crash said the cyclist was heading from Park End Street into Frideswide Square.

He said: “It is a busy and dangerous junction.”

The road connecting Hollybush Row with Hythe Bridge Street and Botley Road was blocked and traffic backed up along Oxpens Road until the emergency services left at 9am.

At 8.30am in Ock Street, Abingdon, at the junction with Victoria Road, a 17-year-old cyclist was hurt in a collision with a silver Mercedes.

He was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital.

Thames Valley Police spokesman Hannah Williams said the teenager’s condition was not thought to be life-threatening.

Ock Street was closed to traffic between the Spring Road roundabout and the junction with Victoria Road.

Last month cycling campaigners in Oxford called for more dedicated lanes after it emerged serious accidents in Oxfordshire increased by a third in three years.

The number of cyclists killed or seriously injured increased from 54 in 2009 to 72 in 2012.

Sixteen cyclists were killed or seriously injured from January to April this year.

Earlier this year, Richard Mann, of cycling campaign group Cyclox, warned that cyclists would be in danger if new plans for Frideswide Square went ahead.

The final option chosen for the congested square’s revamp did not include any cycle lanes.

The £3.7m option put forward by Oxfordshire County Council is called the Boulevard and features one big roundabout at the entrance to the railway station.

In January it was announced that the scheme could be delayed until 2019 when a revamp of Oxford station is set to be completed.

An estimated 32,000 vehicles travel through the square each day.

Mr Mann said: “The accident in Frideswide Square shows how difficult an area it is for cyclists.

“It’s one of the most congested areas in Oxford.”

In March, the city and county councils teamed up to offer cycle safety lessons with Bikeability, a modern-day cycling proficiency scheme.

An £835,000 project to narrow the approaches to The Plain roundabout in East Oxford and make it safer for cyclists is expected to start in November 2014.