A MAN who says he was mown down by a taxi in Worcester had to spend three days in hospital recovering from his injuries.

Nick Humphries was saying goodbye to his niece when he got into an argument with the taxi driver.

According to Mr Humphries, the driver then mounted the kerb, ran him over, sped off with his niece and her boyfriend inside, and left him lying on the pavement in agony.

A man was later arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving.

“I was so angry and in a lot of pain,” he said. “You would expect a taxi would get you home safely but he knocked me over and sped off.”

Mr Humphries, aged 34, suffered a fractured ankle, which has needed surgery, and bruising to his ribs and face following the incident in Holland Green, Warndon Villages, Worcester, at 1.30am on Sunday. He was saying goodbye to Sarah Jones and Adrian Morris when the taxi arrived and he said: “You have black cabs here.”

Mr Humphries says the driver might have thought he had made a racist comment, and he shouted back at Mr Humphries.

After a brief exchange of words, it is alleged the driver mounted the kerb and knocked Mr Humphries to the ground.

Twenty-year-old Mr Morris and 19-year-old Miss Jones were still inside the cab.

Miss Jones said: “The door was still open and he drove off around a corner and carried on to the end of the road,” she said.

“I flew off my seat and my boyfriend was telling him to stop. My boyfriend was asking him to let us out and he opened the doors at the end of the road.”

Police arrested a man several hours later.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called to a road traffic collision involving a car and a pedestrian and sent an ambulance and rapid response vehicle to the scene.”

Mr Humphries, who lives in Kidderminster, was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital where he spent several days recovering from his injuries.

A police spokesman said the driver has been bailed to return to Worcester Police Station while enquiries continue.

Officers are appealing for witnesses to the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call police on 0300 3333000, quoting 55S/091108.

No one at the taxi firm was available for comment.