A WARNING has gone out for people not to drive vehicles on Burnham beach after a teenager was thrown 20 feet from a motorbike when it suddenly got stuck in soft sand.

The 16-year-old girl suffered a suspected broken leg and pelvic injuries in the accident on an area of the beach north of the low lighthouse at around 2.30pm on Sunday.

She was then airlifted to hospital in Bristol.

Sedgemoor District Council, which supplies beach wardens for Burnham, has now issued a warning to people not to drive cars or bikes on the beach as they can get stuck in soft sand or mud.

The girl, on holiday from Birmingham, had been riding her boyfriend’s motorcross-style motorbike at about 30mph when the front wheel got caught in soft sand, throwing her to the ground.

An off-duty midwife from Taunton, who was out walking her dog saw the incident unfold, and kept the girl calm and still to prevent any further injury until lifeguards arrived.

Coastguards, lifeguards and paramedics from Burnham and Weston were then on scene to treat the girl before scrambling the Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance to take her to Bristol’s Southmead Hospital.

Burnham’s lifeguard supervisor, Ross Leighton, said: “She was travelling at a considerable speed and then she struck soft sand and was thrown off.

“Because of this and the fact she was thrown between 15 and 20 feet we treated her also for suspected spinal injuries.

“She was in considerable pain and as the accident happened in quite a remote part of the beach we thought it best to use the air ambulance.”

Claire Faun, Sedgemoor District Council’s press spokesman, said there were numerous signs warning people about the soft sand or mud on the beach and said there had been various incidents where cars had got stuck over the years.

She added: “Luckily, in this instance on Sunday, help from the RNLI, beach staff and the emergency services were close by but the council asks that holiday makers and locals take heed of the warning signs and the safety advice.”