A man was in a critical condition in hospital last night after his motorcycle careered off the road, crashed into a house and burst into flames.
Passersby stopped to douse the flames following the accident on the notorious A947 Aberdeen-Banff road near Oldmeldrum.
The occupant of the house dialled 999 and the 28-year-old rider was taken by ambulance to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary with serious head injuries.
He had been negotiating a bend on the southbound side of the road when his machine went out of control and collided with Middle Lodge on the Meldrum House estate.
The occupant of the house said she was wakened by the noise of the crash – one of three involving bikers in the north-east in the space of a few hours yesterday – and looked outside to see a scene of “devastation”.
She said: “The motorbike left the road and burst into flames and the driver landed on the grass.
“I just heard the impact and saw the flames licking up the side of the wall.
“The motorcyclist was on the grass in front of the dyke. He wasn’t at any risk of the flames but there were some passersby who put the fire out.
“It would have been worse if they hadn’t. The fire didn’t get into the house at all.
“I just hope the motorbiker is ok.”
Police, fire and ambulance crews all went to the scene of early morning smash and the man’s injuries were later described as potentially life-threatening.
The motorcycle, which ended up against the outer dyke of Middle Lodge, was not removed until noon.
It was left badly damaged by the fire, the wall was blackened and debris was scattered along the roadside.
A section of the busy route was closed from the Meldrum roundabout, near Meldrum House, for almost seven hours.
Sergeant Chris Whelan said: “It was a one-vehicle collision involving a motorbike.
“A 28-year-old male has been taken to ARI with serious head injuries.
“The motorbike left the road on the southbound side and collided with the dyke and came to a rest against the house.
“We conducted inquiries at the scene.”
A fire and rescue service spokeswoman said: “We got the call at 6.29am. Three appliances, two from Inverurie and one from Kintore, assisted the ambulance services and checked the roof of the building for fire.”
A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said the biker was in a “serious condition” en-route to ARI.
A nearby resident described the corner as a “nasty bit of road”.
She added: “What a fright the people in the house must have got.
“There hasn’t been an accident on this road for quite some time because they put a surface on there, but there used to be a lot. It has a really bad reputation.”
The road reopened around 1pm.
Elsewhere on the A947, another motorcyclist escaped serious injury in a collision with a car.
The accident happened at 7.45am near Udny Green and involved a black Vauxhall Astra and a blue Suzuki motorcycle.
The biker was checked over at scene and the road was blocked for several hours.
Later in the day a man in his 40s was taken to ARI after his motorcycle and a van collided on the South Deeside Road.
The accident, involving a Red Honda CBR motorcycle and a Vauxhall Combo Post Office van, happened just after 3pm between Blairs and Maryculter, near Ardoe House Hotel.
The biker was taken to ARI, but his injuries were not believed to be serious.
Read our editor’s comment on yesterday’s spate of motorbike crashes across Aberdeenshire.