A WOMAN was thrown from her motorbike after a gang of youths thrust a trolley into her path.

Frances Grobler required hospital treatment and may yet need surgery after being thrown into the air.

And instead of coming to her aid, the yobs cheered from the side of the road as Frances was sent flying.

The 22-year-old was in a group of 10 friends riding along Drakes Way next to the Greenbridge Retail Park shortly after 9pm on Saturday when the gang struck.

She was riding her prized Suzuki SV650S, a bike she had purchased just one week earlier. Her group had been for a ride around the town centre and were heading to the McDonald’s at Greenbridge.

But a group of youths at the side of the road waited for Frances and her friends to get closer, roughly in line with the bus stops outside the retail park, and then pushed a flatbed trolley into the road and straight into the path of the oncoming bikes.

“I didn’t notice them,” said Frances who is still shaken by the experience. “I was the second in the group, my friend who was in front saw them and moved aside. I spotted the trolley too late.

“I don’t remember too much of it, only hitting the road, but people who were there said I went six feet in the air. The driver in the car behind said she thought I was dead. People told me the group was cheering.”

A number of her friends chased the youths on foot, catching up with two of them, while others stayed behind with passing motorists to comfort her.

Paramedics and police were on the scene quickly and officers are believed to have taken the details of at least some of those who were responsible.

Frances, from Old Town, was taken by ambulance to Great Western Hospital where she was treated for injuries to her leg, shoulder and elbow - she now can’t walk without crutches and faces the prospect of surgery. But she knows it could have been much worse.

“I could have died,” she said. “I just want to know why? Why would they do that to someone? What went through their minds when they decided to do it?”

Frances has urged the gang or anyone who knows them to contact the police.

Wiltshire Police confirmed that an investigation into the incident is taking place and that they will be liaising with the Greenbridge Retail Park.

Witnesses should call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.