A WOMAN has been airlifted to hospital after being flung from a horse.

The 45-year-old had been riding today on farmland near Thornton-le-Street, near Northallerton, North Yorkshire, when the horse bolted and threw her onto a gate.

She sustained serious chest injuries and needed rapid transportation to a major trauma centre.

The Great North Air Ambulance was called at 1pm and airlifted her to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough in eight minutes.