A MAN was at the centre of a two and a half hour rescue effort after he fell off his mountain bike in the Wyre Forest last night.

West Midlands Ambulance Service received a 999 call at around 7.30pm yesterday evening (Sunday) to reports of a man who had been injured bike riding in the Wyre Forest, between Button Oak and Button Bridge Lane, near Clogs Bank.

An ambulance, a rapid response vehicle, paramedics from the Trust’s Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) and an incident support officer attended the scene.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “The ambulance crew and responder paramedic navigated the 4x4 responder vehicle through two miles of muddy, difficult terrain to reach the patient with help from a local man who had knowledge of the forest.

“Eventually they found the mountain biker who had reportedly gone over the handlebars of his bike, landing in a small brook. The man sustained a lower back injury, a fractured collar bone and suspected abdominal injuries.

“The land crew and responder paramedic treated the man and stabilised his condition before being joined by HART paramedics. The man was carefully immobilised and lifted onto HART’s specialised all terrain six-wheeled Polaris vehicle before being transferred out of the forest.

“Two and a half hours after the initial 999 call, the man was then taken by land ambulance on blue lights to Princess Royal Hospital in Telford for further assessment and treatment.

“This was a particularly difficult incident to deal with due to the location, rain, mud and darkness. The fact that crews were able to get the man and treat him so quickly is credit to the team work between the land crew, responder paramedic and HART.”