Three serious injury crashes in Sturminster Newton, Portesham and on Portland Beach Road

The latest incident last night saw a cyclist seriously injured - and with "potentially life threatening injuries" after a collision with a car on Portland Beach Road near the entrance to Ferrybridge boatyard.

It led to the closure of the beach road for more than two hours and meant people could not get on or off the island - including parents visiting the sailing academy to see their children attend Budmouth's year 11 prom.

It happened at just after 7pm.

The air ambulance landed at the scene and flew the injured cyclist to hospital.

A Dorset Police spokesman said last night: "We were called at 7.07pm to a collision reported to have involved a cyclist and a car. It happened on Portland Beach Road near the Ferrybridge boatyard.

"Police and ambulance crews are on scene and the road has been closed.

"There are potentially life threatening injuries to the cyclist involved."

The road was partially reopened about 9.15pm but there was a heavy build-up of traffic for a while as police were only allowing a few cars from each direction through at a time. 

The incident follows two serious crashes - in north Dorset and near Portesham - which happened an hour apart on Thursday night.

The one in north Dorset was a hit and run which has left the victim fighting for life in hospital.

Police were called to Sturminster Newton at 7.20pm to reports of a crash in Manston Road, at the junction with Green Close, involving a green Mini and a silver Chevrolet Kalos.

The driver of the Mini – a local 19-year-old man – sustained a “very serious” head injury and was taken to Dorset County Hospital.

His condition is described as life-threatening. His family have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

The driver of the Kalos failed to stop and the vehicle was located unattended nearby.

PC Andrew Fields, of the traffic unit, said: “We are carrying out a number of enquiries in a bid to identify and locate the driver of the Kalos and I would urge anyone with information to please get in touch.

“I am aware that there may have been a number of people in the area and I would ask them, or anyone else with information, to please contact Dorset Police.”

“I am also keen to hear from anyone who was travelling along the road at the time and may have captured the incident on a dashcam.

“Finally, I would like to thank motorists for their patience during the road closures, which were necessary to ensure we could fully investigate the circumstances of this collision.”

Also on Thursday, a woman was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries following a crash in which she was thrown from her motorcycle and hit two vehicles. It happened on the B3157 coast road near Portesham.

The road was closed between Weymouth and Bridport for several hours while emergency crews worked at the scene, treating patients, recovering vehicles and examining the road as part of a collision investigation.

A local road closure was also in place in Abbotsbury.

Dorset Police and South Western Ambulance service paramedics were alerted around 6.20pm to the crash about half a mile east of Portesham.

The Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was also requested once it was ascertained the injured rider needed to be evacuated to hospital in Southampton for specialist treatment.

A police spokesman said: “We were called to to reports of an collision between a Suzuki Alto and a Honda motorcycle on the B3157 at Portesham.

“The rider of the Honda motorcycle was thrown from her bike and into the side of an Iveco van and then a Volvo car, which were travelling along the road at the time of the collision.

"The rider of the motorcyclist, a woman aged in her 40s from Farnham in Surrey, sustained multiple fractures to her leg and a fracture to her spine. She was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital with serious injuries.”

Police said the Suzuki driver, a man in his 30s from Weymouth, sustained non life threatening injuries.

A spokesman for South Western Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 6.18pm to reports of a road traffic collision.“We attended with two ambulances, two rapid response vehicles and an air ambulance.

“Two patients were taken to hospital. One patient was taken to Southampton General Hospital via air ambulance with reports of a leg injury and a patient was taken to Dorset County Hospital via land ambulance.”

The road was reopened at 1am.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police quoting incident 5:467 for the Sturminster Newton crash and 5:435 for the Portesham crash.