WHITEFIELD motorcyclist Robert Whittle is "critical" in a Birmingham hospital after being thrown from his machine on a Manchester motorway.

Mr Whittle (38), of Stanway Road, had been travelling to the Lake District last Saturday (July 31) to visit the mother of a friend who was killed in an accident.

It is understood that the motorcycle enthusiast braked to avoid a car and lost control of his bike on the M60 near its junction with Worsley. He was on the motorway with a friend who was riding another bike.

Police say a Volkswagen Golf was travelling in front of Mr Whittle. The driver, a German woman, apparently missed the motorway exit she wanted to use.

It is not thought that there was any contact between the car and the local man's Suzuki machine.

Mr Whittle suffered serious internal injuries in the incident and was taken to Hope Hospital in Salford. On Saturday evening he and a medical team flew by helicopter to The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

The hospital specialises in liver injuries. He was operated on there late on Sunday and his condition has been described as critical.

Next-door-neighbour Mrs Marion Breen said Mr Whittle had been riding bikes for about 20 years and that he had had his latest machine for only five weeks.

She said: "Robert is a lovely lad and I really hope he pulls through. I hope that the longer it goes the stronger and better he will get.

"He has always had bikes. He has spent thousands of pounds on them and really looks after them. His latest one is a smashing new single-seater."

Mrs Breen said he had lived next door to her for four or five years.

Mr Whittle's two sisters could not be contacted early this week because they were away on holiday with his parents. His girlfriend Gillian Palfry was also away.

Mrs Breen added: "Apparently it was just a freak accident and happened through no fault of his own. He is a knowledgeable and safe motorcyclist as are his friends and he was not speeding.

"I am absolutely devastated. He is such a smashing lad."

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