Early this morning, following reports of a BT Telegraph Pole having fallen in to the carriageway of the A675 in the vicinity of Piccadilly Farm, near the Hollinshead Hall area, south of Abbey Village,  – and subsequently being moved to the side of the road by motorists, a BT openreach Line Engineer was despatched to locate and repair a reported overhead telephone line fault.

The Engineer Aaron Patterson, found the overhead line down due to the fallen down telegraph pole.

Upon inspecting this, he heard groans from the adjacent banking at the side of the road, and discovered to his shock, a very seriously injured male motorcyclist, who was hidden completely from view from the road, with his badly damaged motorbike also hidden from view from the road, at the bottom of the banking alongside the road at this point.

Aaron immediately contacted the Ambulance Service, with an NWAS Emergency Ambulance arriving on scene at circa 09.30hrs.

Co-incidentally at this same time, and same location, very experienced team member Diane Blakeley chanced upon the arriving Ambulance, as she was awaiting a Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award Group practising for their expedition work in the area.

Offering her assistance, and noting she was in the Bolton MRT, a direct request was made by the Ambulance crew for MRT assistance to stretcher evacuate the seriously injured male from the bottom of the banking, over the fence and to their Ambulance.

Diane contacted our Team Leader Garry Rhodes MBE at 09.41hrs, and a full team pager call out was instigated at 09.45hrs.

On scene at the incident site it appeared that the 31 year old motorcyclist had collided with the telegraph pole, sustaining serious chest, internal, arm and back injuries.

He was stabilised by the responding NWAS crews, assisted by Diane and the BT Openreach Line Engineer Aaron Patterson.

At 10.14hrs the first of two of our responding Land Rovers arrived on scene, and working on the slope of the banking, hampered by midges and the angle of the banking, the man was carefully splinted, and evacuated on a mountain rescue stretcher to the waiting Ambulance.

By this stage Police had now completely closed the very busy A675 at this point, to ensure the safety of all the emergency services present and to preserve evidence on scene at what was a serious RTC.

At circa 10.55hrs, the North West Air Ambulance Helimed 72, landed in adjacent fields, and a further assessment of the mans injuries and a decision on how to transport him to Royal Preston Hospital was taken.

By 11.20hrs the injured man was on his way to hospital by Ambulance, with the Doctor from the NWAA Helimed 72 on board the Ambulance.

Helimed 72 departed at 11.32hrs with the road remaining closed for Police Traffic Officers to conduct a detailed investigation of the accident scene.

Our members and vehicles departed at 11.42hrs, with Police enquiries on scene still taking place.

The following resources were on scene at this RTC;

• NWAS (Greater Manchester Area); Emergency Ambulance and two crew, along with a Rapid Response Vehicle and a solo crew member, all from Bolton North Ambulance Station.
• North West Air Ambulance; Helimed 72 from City Airport Barton (Manchester) Pilot / Captain, Aircrew Paramedic and Aircrew Doctor.
• Bolton Mountain Rescue Team; Two Land Rover Defender Mountain Rescue Ambulances, radio call signs ‘Bolton Mobile 2 and 4,’ and six team members.
• Lancashire Constabulary; two Divsional Officers and multiple Traffic Officers and their vehicles.
• BT openreach Line Engineer.

The following Lancashire Constabulary Police Appeal for Information relating to this accident appeared in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, the same day;

Police have appealed for witnesses to come forward after a motorcyclist suffered serious injuries after colliding with a telegraph pole in Belmont.

The 31-year-old biker from Walton-le-Dale was has been travelling south on the A675 Belmont Road in the general direction of Bolton at the time of the accident around 7.45am today.

The bike collided with a telegraph pole and the motorcyclist ended up in a nearby field and the pole, demolished.

The road was believed to have been blocked for a short time.

The man sustained multiple fractures, internal injuries and a punctured lung.

Sgt John Jennings-Wharton said: “This happened in quite a rural location but I am asking people who may have seen something to get in touch.

“The man’s motorbike was a black Kawazaki ZX636 so if anyone saw this vehicle being ridden in area around the time of the collision, or indeed anyone saw the pole in the road or moved it, please give us a call.”

Those with information can contact Lancashire Police on 101 quoting incident reference 336 of today (2 October).