A motorcyclist had to be airlifted to hospital with serious injuries and remains in a critical condition after a collision with a minibus near Hitchin last night.

Ambulance crews were called shortly before 6.30pm yesterday to the A505 Offley Road at the junction with Willow Lane after a black Yamaha and a Fiat Scudo minibus collided just outside Hitchin.

The road was closed by police in both directions while two paramedic officers, two ambulances and the East Anglian Air Ambulance – which landed in a nearby field – attended to the male motorcyclist, who had landed in a ditch due to the impact of the collision.

Paramedic officer Chris Martin said: “We had specialist medical teams, ambulance crews and police who all worked really closely together. The man had serious injuries to his head and leg so had to be anaesthetised at the scene. He was then airlifted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge for further treatment.”

The A505 reopened just before 10.30pm, while the turning for Charlton Road was also shut at the junction with the A602 Parkway in Hitchin during the same period.