A rider was recovering today after being airlifted to hospital following a fall from her horse.

The 21-year-old was with a group of riders in a field outside Low Bradley, near Skipton, when the accident happened yesterday afternoon.

Ambulance paramedics drove to the scene to find the woman had suspected neck and back injuries and they asked for the West Yorkshire police helicopter to be brought in to take her to hospital.

PC Shaun Daniel, who was on board the helicopter, said: "Because of the location and the suspected nature of her injuries, the paramedics decided it would be easier to move her by helicopter rather than risking taking her over rough terrain in their vehicles.

"We set down next to her and landed at the Airedale General Hospital two minutes after getting her on board.

"It was a perfectly executed evacuation - there were no hitches at all.

"Obviously ours is not an air ambulance in that we don't carry the kind of drugs and medical equipment they do, but we do have a stretcher for emergency medical evacuations.

"We may do about one transfer a month from the scene of an accident to hospital or from hospital to hospital but we really are a last resort."

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