Richard Muzira was well-known for his tireless fundraising Photo: Jon Smith

The sixth cyclist to be killed in London in two weeks was yesterday praised as a “local hero” after it was revealed that he won an award for work in his community two years ago.

Richard Muzira, in his sixties, won a “local heroes” award from the Bank of America for all of his voluntary work, but donated the £3,000 prize to the charity that he volunteered at.

CoolTan Arts, for whom Muzira had volunteered for six years, paid tribute to the Zimbabwean refugee yesterday.

Michelle Baharier from the charity, which is for people with mental health problems, said: “Richard was a fantastic friend. He was really community-spirited and was a complete and utter intellectual.”

The father of two was pulled under the front wheels of a tipper truck at the junction of Camberwell Road and Albany Road just after midday on Monday and died at the scene.

Mustafa Huseyin, who owns nearby Mary’s café, said: “The emergency services were working on him for maybe half an hour. They were trying to pump his heart.”

But Muzira has been termed by his family, not only a local hero, but a “war hero”, who fled from Zimbabwe in the 1970s where he was continuously in and out of prison.

“He went to prison more than once. He believed in human rights and he ran a political radio show. He had his idea of justice and that was not what was happening,” said Michelle Baharier, a close friend and colleague of Muzira.

Muzira was first imprisoned at the age of 12 after joining protests against colonial rule. The Thatcher Government’s stamp on the white minority rule enabled him to leave Zimbabwe for England, where he studied film at the University of Westminster.

His daughter Niadzi, a 24-year-old web-designer, said: “I’m so proud of my dad. He wrote books, plays and poetry, he was a bit of a maverick. He was always very active learning and teaching himself.”

His family have this week called for London’s roads to be made safer for cyclists. His former wife, Jane Reynolds, has stated that: “you have to have cycle lanes. You can’t bring hundreds of people onto roads and not have safety provisions in place. Cycle lanes first, then Boris bikes.”