A WOMAN was airlifted to hospital after falling off her bicycle when it hit a pothole.

The 20-year-old cyclist was riding near to the Dorset coast between Chideock and Seatown when the accident happened yesterday.

Paramedics alerted coastguards who scrambled the helicopter from Portland for the rescue operation.

The woman, from Mudeford near Christchurch, was taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester suffering from suspected spinal injuries.

Officers from Wyke Coastguard Rescue Team manned the landing site at the hospital.

Helicopter paramedic Pat Holder said: “The woman was coming down a steep slope. She fell face-first and the bike went over her. Her feet went over her head and she suffered a neck injury.

“She was conscious and breathing when we arrived but in pain.

“We won’t know the full extent of the injury until she’s had an X-ray.”