Sixteen Woodhead MRT members were involved in the rescue

A mountain biker was rescued from woodland after injuring his head and hip in a fall.

Woodhead Mountain Rescue Team was called about 9.10pm yesterday by an ambulance crew which had gone to the biker’s aid after he went over his handlebars when he hit a rock.

The rescue team was told the cyclist was more than 1½km (1 mile) into Wharncliffe Woods near Stocksbridge in South Yorkshire.

The ambulance paramedics said they needed help to stretcher the man out. 16 Woodhead MRT members responded to the incident, with others being stood down en route when the man was found.

The ambulance crew had already given the man pain relief and immobilised him.

The rescuers’ information indicated the casualty was on a bridleway, and the team’s Land Rover was used to take members as far as possible into the woods. A stretcher team then found the biker and ambulance crew and he was brought back to the road, along with the team’s doctor.

Wayne Thackray of Woodhead MRT said: “Team personnel escorted the ambulance crew back to their ambulance by foot, collecting various bits of ambulance kit en route that had been discarded by them on the way up. We also took his friend and bike back to his car, at Deepcar.”

The cyclist, who was wearing a helmet, suffered his fall about 8.40pm.