AMBULANCE crews had to trek miles into a forest in challenging conditions to reach a mountain biker in severe pain in Herefordshire.

The crews trekked almost two miles in failing light and pouring rain to reach a man who had come off his mountain bike in Mortimer Forest.

The ambulance service was called to the incident at 7.45pm last night after a 22-year-old man was thrown over his handlebars and complained of severe pain in his lower back.

Paramedic Simon Burrows, said: "When we arrived it was clear that we would need to get the man off the hillside on a stretcher but there was no easy access.

"The ambulance got to within about half a mile of our location up a track but couldn't get any further.

"One of our concerns was the rain. It was drizzling as we walked up to the patient but it then started raining continuously. We were able to keep the man warm using thermal blankets but it was becoming a concern."

"Equally concerning was the light. It held for about 45 minutes, but the whole incident took almost two hours so in the end we were working in the dark."

A man cycling with the patient was able to give the ambulance crew good directions to the scene. Ambulance staff then got to the man using one of two four-wheel-drive vehicles supplied by the Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) who brought the vehicles up the track to the location of the accident.

"With their help we were able to get the man onto a scoop stretcher and then load him onto one of the four-by-fours and get him down to the ambulance," Simon said.

The man was then taken to the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for further assessment and treatment.