This is the terrifying moment a Tour de Yorkshire marshal is nearly mowed down by an out of control Team Astana support vehicle mid-race after it crashes into a traffic island.

Volunteer Phillip Sullivan has described how his life flashed before his eyes as he managed to leap out of the way at the last moment.

Mr Sullivan, who was wearing a hi-vis vest and waving a small yellow flag, jumped from the small traffic island a moment before it was demolished by the Skoda - which had bikes on the roof and was in the team livery.

Mr Sullivan told BBC Radio 5Live: "My life flashed before my eyes. I was just like, 'This car is not going to move', and everything just seemed to slow down into slow motion that instant.

"I just dived to the right and jumped towards the crowds of people - everybody just looking at me, staring at me like, 'How did you get out of the way of that?'

"I dusted myself down and went back to my position and carried on the with the rest of the race to make sure the cyclist didn't hit the obstacle."

Mr Sullivan said his mother was watching from 50 yards away and "feared the worse" as she only saw the car demolish the signage.

He said that she eventually found him and said: "How did you survive that?"

He told the programme: "I'll be there next year".

Astana's sport director, Lars Michaelsen, said: "First of all I want to apologise for the collision I had with the street furniture, riding in the first team car. We also apologised to race organiser ASO and the involved marshal."

The incident happened on the fourth day of the Tour de Yorkshire which saw 900,000 people line the route between Halifax and Leeds.

This year's event has been described as the biggest yet with 2.6 million people turning out to watch the race over the four days in glorious sunshine, according to organisers.

Welcome to Yorkshire chief executive Sir Gary Verity said: "Once again, they were utterly unbelievable and it was like being back at the 2014 Tour de France.

"Every start and finish was absolutely rammed and there were so many high points along the route that I'll need to take a few days to let it all sink in."

Primary school teaching assistant Nathan Currie, 25, who filmed this dramatic footage of the near miss, said: "We were sat as a family on the grass verge at the side of the road with plenty of other families around.

"It was a brilliant atmosphere and the accident came out of nowhere and was a complete shock to everyone.

"The driver did well to keep the car under control after the crash because it was going at some speed.

"The marshal was fine although very shaken and was back up on his feet again doing his job straight afterwards.

"We couldn't believe it - the whole crowd was cheering him.

"We had a quick chat with him about it and he was fine but when he had a look at the video he said a couple of choice words."

Nathan, from Armley, West Yorks., was at the event with his parents, two sisters and nephews and niece when the near-miss took place.

He added: "It was a brilliant event and it was great to have it on my doorstep.

“The whole area was excited to see it and there was a very positive buzz around where we were, even after the accident."