POLICE have thanked members of the public who resuscitated a motorcyclist involved in a major accident at Lydford on Sunday afternoon.

The man, named as Ian Cox from St Judes in Plymouth, was given vital artificial respiration and heart massage at the scene by other motorists, but died later that evening in hospital from his injuries.

MPC Dave Hargreaves said Mr Cox was riding towards Okehampton on the A386 at about 3.45pm.

Near to the entrance to Lower Downtown between the Dartmoor Inn and the Fox and Hounds he was in collision with a caravan and then a car, both travelling in the opposite direction.

MPC Hargreaves said a number of medically-trained people stopped and were able to revive Mr Cox's heart and keep him alive until he was airlifted to Derriford.

'We would like to thank those people; nobody had to stop and help like that, but we're very grateful they did,' he said.

Nobody else was injured in the incident.

Witnesses are still being sought and police would like to hear from anyone who saw the black-clothed rider on a black bike heading north on the A386 between 3pm and 4pm on Sunday September 24.

They would particularly like to contact a woman driving a red car who was first on the scene of the accident.

She too, was travelling north, and is believed to have left the Moorside filling station just before the accident.

If you have any information at all, please call the Okehampton Traffic squad on 01837 658462.