Biker is catapulted through trees

A motorcyclist who was catapulted over a wall at the top of a ravine has survived after foliage was thought to have broken his fall.

He broke a leg following a collision with two cars near Betws-y-Coed in Snowdonia, Gwynedd.

Rescue teams quickly reached the man, who is aged 35, but it took 90 minutes to winch him to safety.

The man, from Chester, was flown to Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital in Bangor after the accident on Wednesday afternoon.

It happened on the winding and narrow A5, a mile south of Betws-y-Coed, close to the Silver Fountain Inn.

The emergency was raised shortly before 1600BST, and about 12 firefighters used lines and a specialist stretcher to carry out the rescue, which ended at about 1730BST.

Bob Mason, county operations manager for Denbighshire, said it was a difficult rescue because the man had fallen on to a steep bank.

"He fell over the retaining wall and was lying on the bank about 25ft (7.5m) below the road level.

"Both the fire and ambulance crews had to work closely and in quite arduous conditions. He was carried on a stretcher then and taken in a helicopter to hospital."

A spokesman for the ambulance service said two ambulances, a rapid response vehicle, the North Wales Air Ambulance and a duty officer went to the scene.

He said the rider was treated for a broken leg before being carried back up to the roadside to be airlifted by the air ambulance to hospital.

Rescuers said he was lucky to have survived after being catapulted such a distance.