A MOTORCYCLIST has died after he was in collision with a car in a rush-hour road smash.

Police closed Shirley Road in both directions at the Paynes Road junction after the rider of a blue Kawasaki motorcycle was in a collision with a grey Vauxhall Astra at 5.30pm outside St Mark's School.

The motorcyclist, a man in his 50s, suffered serious head injuries and was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

The rider was given CPR by paramedics at the scene before he was put into the back of an ambulance.

The driver of the Astra, a 27-year-old man, was uninjured and was arrested on suspicion of causing death by careless driving and remains in custody.

A 300 metre cordon was in place for around three hours while around 30 police officers carried out investigations.

Traffic was diverted via Waterloo Road while the car - which had damage to its front end - blocked the road.

Jay Chowdhury from Chowdhury's Indian restaurant first became aware of the crash situation when he heard sirens and saw four police cars and an ambulance arriving outside his shop.

He said: “There are a lot of police and crash investigators.

“It's very shocking as just a few moments away it was bumper to bumper traffic and its mayhem with traffic backing up

“It's a bit haywire and noone's allowed to leave or come into the street.”

Dave Walthon , 49, from Shirley, said: “I’m not shocked that this has happened as I had an accident on this same street with a push bike last year.”
A 62-year-old who wished to remain anonymous said: “This doesn’t surprise me as because this road is notoriously busy and it wouldn’t be the first or last time something like this will happen in Shirley.”

Sgt Richard Grant from the Totton Roads Policing unit said:  "This is a very serious collision that has resulted in the death of a motorcyclist.

"I would like to thank people in the local community for their patience while we investigated the scene which required us to have the road closed for approximately three hours. We re-opened it as soon as possible.

"I would urge anyone who witnessed the collision, or either of the vehicles prior to it, to contact us."

Anyone with information is asked to contact SgtGrant at the Totton Roads Policing unit, quoting Operation Tollbar, on 101, or the anonymous Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.