A MAN suffered a serious injury in a cycling accident – an incident which rescuers said involved 'a lot of manpower when emergency services are already stretched'.

The accident happened not long after emergency services were called to Lulworth on Saturday afternoon to rescue a man who got stuck climbing a cliff.

The two incidents involved many personnel and people are being warned before venturing out for activities during the lockdown.

A spokesman for Wyke Regis Coastguard Rescue Team said: "We were tasked at 3.40pm on the request of Dorset Police to provide our stretcher for an injured mountain biker in Puddletown Forest. He sustained a suspected (cervical) spine injury after a fall. We arrived on scene on the closed nearside lane of the Puddletown Bypass to be stood down as the casualty had be carried to the ambulance."

The spokesman added: "This incident happened along with another multi-agency incident at the same time involving our colleagues from Lulworth Coastguard Rescue Team, Kimmeridge Coastguard, DWFireRescue and eventually the Coastguard helicopter. These two avoidable incidents (we are in lockdown) took a huge amount of manpower and resources when emergency services are already stretched.

"Our advice to everyone is 'do as you ought, not what you want' Thank you."