A BIKER is in hospital with serious injuries following a crash on Christmas Day.

The crash involving a back Triumph Tiger motorbike took place in Lower Road, Hockley, at around 3.55pm.

The bike crashed into a roadside fence near the Pevensey Gardens junction on Lower Road. The rider, a 53-year-old man from the Rayleigh area, was taken to the Royal London Hospital with serious injuries.

Lower Road was closed until just before 9pm whilst police carried out an examination of the scene.

The police helicopter and a dog team were used to search the local area to check for any other casualties.

Anybody with any information about the incident is asked to contact Pc Alistair Sims at the Laindon Road Policing Unit on Essex Police 101.