A driver has been jailed for eight years after mowing down and killing a young cyclist at 60mph while high on drink and drugs.

Vicky Myres, 24, was on a regular bike ride with her boyfriend's mother on a sunny, summer's Sunday morning when Ajay Singh, 26, ploughed into her from behind in his VW Polo.

Moments before Miss Myres said to her companion, "Gosh, that car is going fast" then Singh hit her at around 60mph on the 30mph limit road.

Minshull Street Crown Court heard she was catapulted over the car, fatally breaking her neck and landing 57 metres further up Stockport Road in Timperley, south Manchester.

She suffered 66 injuries and was pronounced dead in hospital.

Father-of-one Singh, did not stop and drove off, though his windscreen was shattered with "nil" visibility and he almost had a head on collision with another car minutes later.

Other drivers had seen him earlier weaving across the road, music blaring, driving "well in excess" of 70mph disappearing in a cloud of dust as he sped through south Manchester moments before the crash around 7.50am on August 27.

Cocaine and cannabis was later found in his blood and he told police he had taken spice and ketamine and was seen getting in and out of the car clutching a wine bottle and unsteady on his feet.

The claims advisor of Wythenshawe, Manchester admitted causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop and failing to report an accident at an earlier hearing.

He was jailed for eight years and banned from the road for 10 years.

Miss Myres, a florist and keen cyclist who rode six days a week, had just bought a house in Flixton, Manchester, with "inseparable" partner of six years, James Crosby, and was out cycling with his mother Sarah Crosby, as they did every Sunday morning.

Mrs Crosby told the court in a victim impact statement: "Vicky was lying there. I knew immediately she was dead. I had to tell James, Vicky had died.

"He held his head in his hands and shouted, 'No! No! No!' And I saw the pain and anguish overcome him. To hear your grown up son sobbing is utterly heartbreaking."

Mr Crosby told the court he feels "lost" without his partner, who he travelled the world with and planned a family with and he now struggles to get through each day.

Nick Myres, her father, told the court in a statement: "She was kind, loving, caring, adventurous, determined and fun.

"I feel older and sadder every day. I have my memories but will never have any new ones. I'm trying not to let hate and anger take over."

Singh's registration plate came off in the crash and within 30 minutes police had smashed down his door and cuffed him.

He had gone from his flat in Wythenshawe to the car park of a hotel then returned home, but has never given an explanation for his journey or his driving.

Singh was under the drink driving limit when a sample was taken later in hospital, but over the limit for drugs. However the court heard it could not be proved he was over the limit at the time of the crash.

Jailing him for eight years Judge John Potter, told him: "The strong inference from the evidence is that I'm sure from the driving at the time you must have been significantly impaired by both alcohol and drugs.

"When she died Vicky Myres was just 24 years of age. She was a good, bright, intelligent, enthusiastic person who had the world at her feet.

"The hurt felt by her family is raw and immediate."

By Pat Hurst