UPDATE:11.39am

FOUR people have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 63-year-old man was found on the roadside in Pontnewynydd, Pontypool after falling off his bicycle.

The cyclist, named locally as John Reeder from Pontnewynydd, was found lying face-down on the A4043 near George Street at 6am on Wednesday, sparking a 12-hour police investigation at the scene.

He was taken to Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital with serious head injuries and in a critical condition, but later died.

Police are still trying to establish what happened leading up to Mr Reeder falling off his bicycle, but have arrested three men, aged 18, 19 and 23 and a 19-year-old woman from Pontypool on suspicion of murder.

Mr Reeder, a horse trainer, was a popular figure in the Pontypool area and was regularly seen riding his bike or walking ponies around.

He was originally from Yorkshire, but lived in Ponthir before moving to Tan-y-Coed, Pontnewynydd a number of years ago.

Daniel James, 24, of Tan-y-Coed, said: “Everyone knew John around here, he was friendly and would either be riding his bike around to do his shopping or in the pub.”

Jamie Fitzgerald, 22, said that his passion was horses and Mr Reeder would often ride to nearby farms and smallholdings to help people train ponies.

He was also a well-known figure in The Pegasus pub in Pontnewynydd and locals described him enjoying a pint and talking about horses.

Locals described motorists rushing to help Mr Reeder as he lay face-down on the road with his black bicycle yards away from him on the A4043, near Pontnewynydd on Wednesday morning.

There was then travel chaos, with roads around George Street and Osborne Road closed for around 12 hours as 20 forensic scientists and officers investigated the circumstances.

The incident happened at around 6am on the A4043 opposite the entrance to the Pontnewynydd Industrial Estate.

An employee at Brickfabrication was arriving for work soon after the incident and said: "A couple of people had stopped to tend to him. He was about 10 yards from his bike, face down and looked in a bad way."

A resident on nearby Merchant Hill described " a scene of chaos", with police officers cordoning adjoining roads off in a one mile radius.

Gwent Police asked anyone with information to call 101 and quote number 73 7/8/13.

UPDATE:10.30am

Four people have been arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of a 63-year-old cyclist on the A4043 in Pontnewynydd

Police investigating the circumstances leading up to the death of the cyclist on George Street, yesterday morning have arrested four people overnight.

Three men aged 18, 19 and 23 and one female aged 19, all from the Pontypool area, have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in police custody at this time.

Officers investigating the incident are trying to establish the sequence of events leading up to the cyclist falling off his bike.

If anyone has information they are asked to call Gwent Police on 101 and quote log number 73 7/8/13