A MOTORCYCLIST has died and another is fighting for his life after two horror crashes on Dorset roads over this bank holiday weekend.

A 23-year-old biker died after he collided with a yellow Skoda car on the A356 at Maiden Newton on Sunday.

The Blandford motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene and two OAPs who were travelling in the car were seriously injured.

Elsewhere, a 42-year-old biker from Chard, Somerset, suffered life-threatening injuries after being involved in a collision with a BMW car on the A35 at Charmouth on Saturday.

Police officers said the Blandford biker, riding a blue and white Suzuki, collided with the car at the junction with Toller Lane at around 10.30am.

The Skoda driver, a 75-year-old woman and her 78-year-old husband from Crewkerne, both suffered serious injuries and were taken to Dorset County Hospital.

Councillor Jill Haynes, Dorset County Councillor for the Maiden Newton ward, said the incident was ‘desperately tragic’.

She said: “This is so tragic, I’m very sorry for the family of this young man.

“That road is very fast and the visibility at that junction is difficult.

“It’s very, very sad that someone has lost their life and unfortunately motorbikes aren’t visible as other vehicles and riders don’t have as much protection.

“Unfortunately we do seem to have increasing problems with motorbike collisions on our roads and the council is doing everything it can to combat this.

“It is desperately tragic that this young man has lost his life, it’s a terrible tragedy.

“I’m quite distressed, it’s not often we have fatalities on that road.”

The A356 was closed for several hours by Dorset Police as emergency services worked at the scene and the road and vehicles were forensically examined by crash investigators.

The 42-year-old Chard biker remains in hospital with life-threatening injuries after colliding with a car and a road barrier at Charmouth.

He was in collision with a grey BMW on the A35 at Charmouth at around 5.25pm on Saturday.

A Dorset Police spokeswoman said the motorcyclist, riding a yellow Aprilia bike, has 'serious injuries described as life-threatening,'

He collided with the car and then the barrier of the Charmouth bypass, she said.

The BMW driver, a 47-year-old man from the Southampton area, suffered slight injuries.

The biker was taken to Taunton Hospital.

The A35 was closed in both directions following the smash.

A diversion was in place through the centre of Charmouth.

Any witnesses who saw either of the collisions or the manner of driving before the collision of any vehicles involved are asked to contact the Weymouth traffic department on 101.