"It was a huge explosion": Neighbours speak of their shock after motorcyclist hits car and is hurled 30 feet through the air

The biker was travelling southbound on Reigate Road, in Nork, having turned onto it from the Drift Bridge crossing, at 4.45pm.

He crashed into a Mercedes which was travelling in the opposite direction and turning into a driveway on the road.

EARLIER TODAY: Man in hospital with serious injuries after his motorcycle collides with car and catches fire

It is understood that after hitting the car, the motorcycle was hurled through the air, before hitting the ground and bursting into flames.

Witnesses said the motorcyclist, wearing black leather and in his 40s or 50s, landed 20 yards away.

The car is understood to have crashed into a truck standing on the driveway, which then crashed into the garage of the house.

The stretch of road where the accident happened is visibly scorched and uneven

David and Wendy Hester, who have lived in the 30mph road for more than 30 years, said they heard a "huge explosion".

Mr Hester was putting the rubbish out at the time.

He said: "Out of the corner of my eye I saw the motorcyclist go off in a flash.

"I heard the bang and as I turned there was a great pile of black flames and smoke going up.

"He was going at considerably more than 30mph.

"He went past in a flash. A dark shape shot past and I thought ‘he’s giving it some’.

The couple said drivers often exceed the speed limit on Reigate Road because the turning onto it from the Drift Bridge crossing sees traffic merge from two lanes into one to turn left.

Mrs Hester added: "There was a mass in the middle of the road still smoking and there were pieces of debris scattered all over the place.

"All his clothes were cut off and left in a pile on the road.

"I was shocked because of the nature of it. Most accidents happen at low speeds. It all happened very quickly."

Peter Reynolds said he heard two bangs and saw the motorbike in flames.

He said: "As she was turning in, he hit her and must have just been catapulted.

"The motorbikes tend to get off as quickly as they can from the traffic lights and whizz past."

Wendy Finch and her daughter Katie Finch were in their conservatory at the time and rushed out after hearing "two loud bangs".

Mrs Finch, who comforted the motorcyclist, said: "It sounded like an explosion.

"Later we realised the first God almighty bang was where he hit the car and the second explosion was the [motorcycle’s] petrol can going up."

She said a man in a transit van came running towards the accident holding a fire extinguisher which he dropped by the biker, who he cradled and comforted.

"He was saying ‘stay with me’ to him," Miss Finch said.

"You could hear the biker was in pain."

Mrs Finch said the van driver told her he had seen the accident happen and the motorcyclist had been thrown "20 to 30 feet into the air".

She said: "We were trying to keep him conscious.

"He never opened his eyes. He didn’t move.

"I told him ‘stay with me, the ambulance has been called’."

The pair said paramedics treated the man for one-and-a-half hours at the scene before taking him to hospital.

A police sign can still be seen on the road today 

Mrs Finch added: "There was no blood, there wasn’t a mark on him.

"I can’t get it out of my mind. I keep seeing his face.

"It was my moral obligation to help him.

"How you come home from a job like that and turn off I’ll never know.

"It looked like a bomb had gone off. The bike was just charred remains."

Her daughter added: "The man was so far away from the bike. It was alarming how far he went.

"The road was melting like it was made of chocolate. There was black smoke. It was awful.

"He was going fast for the impact that was caused. He was way over the speed limit."

Mrs Finch said the woman who had been driving the car was walking but in shock.

The police were at the road until 11.30pm last night ascertaining details about the accident.

Anyone with information should call the police on 101 or report it online at my.surrey.police.uk/splonlinereportingweb quoting the reference number P15107041.