A motorcyclist from Wiltshire has died after a serious crash on the Weymouth-Bridport coast road in Dorset.

It happened on the B3157 between Abbotsbury Hill and towards the West Bexington turning and involved a car and a motorbike.

Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone with relevant dashcam footage to come forward following the crash.

Dorset Police were called at around 2pm yesterday to a collision involving a silver Honda motorcycle travelling east and a black BMW 1 Series travelling in the opposite direction between Abbotsbury and Swyre, near to the junction with Clay Lane, West Bexington.

Police, paramedics and firefighters were all called to the scene.

The motorcyclist, a man in his 40s from Wiltshire, was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital with serious injuries and sadly passed away.

His family has been informed and the coroner has been notified.

The occupants of the BMW did not suffer any serious injuries.

Road closures were in place while emergency services attended and examined the scene of the incident.

Police Sergeant Sarah Jones said: “Our thoughts very much remain with the family of the motorcyclist.

“Our investigation into this collision are ongoing and I would urge any witnesses who have not already spoken to police to contact us. I would also ask anyone who was driving in the area at the time and has dashcam fitted to their vehicle to please check their footage for anything relevant.”

The road was closed between Clay Lane (West Bexington) to Cowards Lane (Abbotsbury).

Motorists travelling between Weymouth and Bridport were being advised to use the A35.

The air ambulance was seen to land in a field and emergency services were seen taking a casualty in a stretcher to the aircraft which then took off.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dorset Police at www.dorset.police.uk, via email SCIT@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101, quoting incident number 1:242. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via www.crimestoppers-uk.org.