A Cyclist had his “life saved” by his crash helmet.

Police said that on Saturday night, Swanage Coastguard officers came across a 33-year-old man from Poole lying at the edge of Ferry Road in Studland.

The man was on his way home from Studland Beer Festival and had come off his bike while making his way back to the chain ferry with his wife.

He’d lost balance and fell sustaining a significant wound to his mouth requiring stitches, several small cuts and bruises and a rather large black eye.

Police added that the impact on his head had been substantial and the evidence of this was plain to see as the helmet had split in several places and was being held together only by the inner plastic chin strap mounts.

They added that he was also very concussed.

A spokesman for Purbeck police said that there is “no doubt” that this helmet saved his life and that if investing in a decent cycle helmet seems too high a price to pay, for this man not having one would have cost him his life.

The coastguard added that it was flagged down on the Studland Ferry road after the cyclist came off his bike at speed.

It said that the man had a serious head injury with the team providing immediate first aid and treating him by the side of the road.

An ambulance took the man to Poole Hospital with the coastguard thanking a motorist who stopped to help.