A MOTORCYCLIST died following a crash near Leominster yesterday.

The A44 was closed from the A4110 junction after a motorbike, carrying two people, was in collision with a car near Monkland at 5.05pm.

The driver of the motorbike, a man, was immediately assessed by ambulance crews at the scene, but it quickly became apparent that nothing could be done to save him and he was confirmed dead at the scene.

The pillion, a woman, was found in an eight-foot ditch which was not visible from the road.

She was treated at the scene for significant injuries to her arm and lower leg.

The woman was fully immobilised and given pain relief before being airlifted to the major trauma centre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.