A MOUNTAIN biker had to airlifted to hospital after an accident in Dalby Forest on the North York Moors.

The 36-year-old man was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary following a rescue that lasted for more than three hours.

Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team and Yorkshire Ambulance Service were called out to Dixons Hollow at 2.30pm on Thursday.

The team’s incident controller Ian Hugill said: "He was going over a series of jumps and it looks as if he came off and damaged his shoulder and suffered some facial bruising.

"We had to be very careful because there was a possibility of spinal injury."

The nature of the man's injury saw rescue workers decide to call for a helicopter, but poor weather meant an air ambulance was not available and as a result a coastguard helicopter was despatched from Humberside Airport.

The mountain biker was put in a vacuum mattress to keep warm and carried on a bell stretcher, which is capable of being winched into a helicopter.

The incident was the team’s 59th rescue of the year.