A MOTORCYCLIST has been airlifted to hospital after falling from his bike on the A66 near Barnard Castle.

The biker, a man in his fifties, suffered non-life threatening injuries to his hip and leg following the incident at 5.10pm yesterday.

A Great North Air Ambulance Service doctor and a team of paramedics assessed him at the scene. He was then airlifted to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough for further treatment.

The journey took 12 minutes and the injured man was in a stable condition upon arrival.