Biker survives '140mph' crash

A horrified driver watched helplessly as the speeding biker somersaulted in front of him, his cartwheeling bike hurtling past on the pavement in a shower of sparks.

The 23 year-old Sidley rider's name has not been released by police.

But he is said to have told helpers coming to his aid on Monday evening that his powerful 1,000cc Yamaha R1 machine had been clocking 140mph before he lost control on the slight downhill bend in 40mph King Offa Way.

Police have declined to comment on the speed involved because the incident was immediately made the subject of a crash investigation.

Paramedics and specialist police Traffic Division officers initially viewed the incident so seriously that it was given the name Operation Micron and the victim's family were warned that his injuries were thought to be life-threatening.

This was later improved to "very serious."

By Tuesday police revealed that X-rays had shown that the only broken bone the biker had suffered was a fractured finger.

His leather jacket was shredded and he suffered severe lacerations to the legs and to the back of his head.

Recently-retired paramedic Bob Shoesmith said at the scene: "I was coming up the hill in my van. The motorbike was coming down the hill.

"He hit the kerb of the central reservation.

"He left the bike and must have gone 20ft into the air.

"His bike came straight at me at terrific speed. I thought it was going to hit my van.

"But it hit the wall and came screaming past me on the pavement at a rate of knots.

"It ran down the wall and ended up about 150 yards down the road.

"I went to his aid. It looks as if he has a head injury, a broken femur and a fractured arm.

"I called the police and ambulance on my mobile and attended to him until they arrived.

"He is conscious. He's lucky to be alive.

"If he of the bike had come through my screen I would have been dead..."

Police initially closed dual-carriageway King Offa Way's eastbound lanes. Later the westbound lanes were also closed for crash investigation purposes. The closures lasted three hours.

A long trail of debris led from the bike's point of impact just downhill of the bend almost to the bedding centre.

Gouge marks on the pavement, brick wall and road surface together with a trail of engine oil marked the skidding bike's path.

Firefighters used an environmentally-friendly kit to clean oil from the road.

PC Cath Connell of the Traffic Division is appealing for any witnesses to the accident to contact her at Bexhill police station on 0845 6070999.