A MOUNTAIN biker had to be airlifted to hospital yesterday after suffering horrific injuries in a fall on a remote hillside.

The woman, in her 30s, was hurt after crashing over her handlebars and landing on her head as she navigated a steep hill in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire.

She was part of a group of eight experienced riders who were riding more than two miles from the nearest road when the accident happened.

She suffered life-threatening multiple injuries, including a broken shoulder, broken leg and shattered pelvis, as well as countless more superficial injuries.

Rescuers later said her helmet had saved her life in what was the most horrific injuries they had ever seen.

A member of the group alerted police at about 1.45pm and a team from Swaledale Mountain Rescue attended the scene at Apedale, above Redmire.

The team stabilised the woman, who is thought to be from Manchester but was staying in Northallerton, and stayed with her until the air ambulance arrived.

She was airlifted to James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, where her condition was not known last night, although her injuries are no longer thought to be life-threatening.

Rescue leader Richard Hey said: "The injuries were the worst I have experienced in many years of mountain rescue and the woman would almost certainly have died had she not been wearing a cycle helmet."

The news comes on the day it was revealed that the growth of extreme sports was putting extra pressure on volunteer-run emergency services such as the Royal National Lifeboat Institute and mountain rescue teams.