A MAN was seriously injured in a collision that led to rush hour traffic chaos on one of Bolton’s major roads.

Tonge Moor Road was closed after the incident, in which a scooter is believed to have clipped a traffic island in the road at around 7am yesterday morning.

A police spokesman said that the rider suffered serious injuries but his condition is not believed to be life-threatening.

The accident happened near the junction with Thicketford Road, at Tonge Moor Conservative Club. The scooter was travelling from Bolton towards Harwood and Bromley Cross.

Traffic backed up around the area and buses and motorists were diverted along Sheriff Street and Back Tonge Moor Road, leading to cars queuing down side streets. The road reopened at around 8.30am.

The start of an AS maths exam at Canon Slade School in Bradshaw Brow was postponed due to the delays. One woman, who asked not to be named, witnessed the crash and narrowly avoided being hit head on by the scooter. She said the scooter clipped the island in the road, causing the rider to fall over the handlebars.

She said: “He hit with the island. I stopped near the Metro taxi shop and called for an ambulance.”

The woman added that the rider was conscious and talking to people but had blood coming out his ears.

Other people stopped to help and two nurses stayed with the man until an ambulance arrived.

An employee in a nearby shop said: “I saw the biker in the road, he looked quite badly injured.”

The man said there had been several crashes at the junction over the past few years.