A MAN has been taken to hospital with serious injuries after a motorbike crash in Turton.

The male rider of the bike, a red Kawasaki, crashed in Bradshaw Road, near the junction with Bury Road, at about 2.45pm today.

Police said the bike had crashed into "street furniture".

He was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital by air ambulance, where he remains tonight, police have described his injuries as “serious”.

No other vehicles were involved in the accident, which happened near the India Gate restaurant.

A section of the road was closed by police but it later reopened after 6pm.

Ashik Miah is the owner of the India Gate restaurant, he said: "We were walking past just after it happened, the police had closed the road and were turning cars away.

"We could see the motorbike on its side and there was a group of people around it, I later heard that the man had been air lifted to hospital.

"It is a very dangerous junction and you really have to slow down when driving along there, I think something needs to be done about it."

Speaking on the Edgworth Village Facebook page, Nicolette Parkinson said: “That cross roads is awful especially coming from affetside you cannot see anything coming from the right.”

A spokesman for the North West Air Ambulance said: "The man in question was taken to the Royal Preston Hospital with multiple injuries."

He is said to have suffered head and chest injuries.

Police are appealing for anyone who witnessed the crash, in particular two other motorcyclists who are believed to have travelled past the scene of the incident, to call them on 0161 8564745.