A MAN was airlifted to hospital after the lorry he was driving crashed through safety barriers on a motorway bridge near Ledbury.

The County Air Ambulance was called to an elevated section of the M50 between junctions one and two of the eastbound carriageway at around 2.30pm yesterday.

Ambulance service press officer Claire Thomas said: “When crews arrived they found a seven and a half tonne lorry which was partly over the bridge parapet.

“The lorry had gone through part of the railings. Two of the railings had pierced the front of the cab and were protruding from the side of the lorry.

“The driver, a man believed to be in his 40s, suffered a severe leg injury and had lost a lot of blood.

“The helicopter was repositioned onto the motorway and the patient was hot loaded onto the aircraft. This is when the rotors are kept turning to minimise the time spent on the ground.

“The man was given fluids and was immobilised using a neck collar and spinal board before being airlifted to Worcester Royal Hospital for further assessment and treatment.”

A section of the motorway was closed while fire crews from Ledbury and Worcestershire helped to clean up a fuel spillage on the carriageway.