A CYCLIST was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after he came off his bike close to New Milton.

The gentleman, aged in his sixties, crashed along Christchurch Road, close to Hoburne Naish holiday park, just after 9am yesterday morning.

The incident saw the A337 he was travelling on closed for more than three hours.

He suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital after emergency services had closed the A337 in both directions between Western Avenue and Ringwood Road.

Three off-duty service people - who happened to be staying at the caravan park - found the man and alerted the emergency services.

Neil Sykes, general manager at Hoburne Naish, said his guests were leaving the site when they stumbled across the injured cyclist.

The off-duty nurse, paramedic and fireman were about to go out for the day to celebrate their children’s birthdays.

Mr Sykes said: “From what I was told a gentleman in his sixties was riding towards Highcliffe on his bike, and he was wearing a helmet, riding a black road bike.

“He got to where the bridge was and came off. He sustained some serious injuries.”

Mr Sykes added that as soon as he was alerted to the incident, staff stepped forward to redirect traffic as they waited for police to arrive.

The paramedics were the first on the scene, he said, with the air ambulance landing at Chewton Glen.

“We wish the gentleman the speediest of recoveries,” Mr Sykes added.

A spokesperson for Hampshire police said they were called at 9.13am. They reopened the road at 12.44pm.

“It appears at this stage that no other vehicle was involved but investigations will be ongoing,” the spokesperson added.

A spokesperson for the South Central Ambulance Service said they sent one crew, a rapid response vehicle and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance.

“We were assessing and treating a man in his sixties,” she said. “He sustained serious injuries and he was assisted by all our crews and was flown to Southampton hospital.”