London cyclist finds out why you should stop at red light

A London cyclist who attracted scorn for failing to heed a red light and slamming into the side of a bus has blamed the embarrassing incident on his brakes snapping.

The rider, who claims to be a man by the name of Charlie Baker, was racing towards the busy junction of Portland Street and Oxford Street in the London CBD last Monday, only to seemingly realise too late he was heading for trouble.

Bystanders could only watch helplessly as Mr Baker crashed into the side of the bus with a loud thud.

"Well done, red light jumper," a motorcyclist, who filmed the incident on his helmet cam, says sarcastically in footage uploaded online.

Despite most being unbothered by the crash, one kind stranger immediately rushes over to see if the cyclist is unhurt.

The motorcyclist uploaded footage of the incident to YouTube last week and has drawn over 110,000 views, enough to draw a reaction from a man claiming to be Mr Baker.

"Thought I'd just get the lights, hence the speed," the user said.

"Realised it wasn't happening, so I squeezed the front brake. Cable snapped. Not enough time to lose speed on back wheel in the wet."