A MAN was being treated in hospital last night after falling from the Tamar Bridge.

Police say the man, said to be in his 40s, apparently climbed up a railing facing the seaward side of the bridge at just before 12.30pm yesterday after removing his motorcycle helmet and gloves.

A short while later he fell from the middle of the bridge into the Tamar.

A Ministry of Defence launch, coastguard and the Plymouth lifeboat took part in a search for the man who was later found with abdominal wounds by the MoD launch. He was treated at the scene by paramedics from the South Western Ambulance Service before being taken to Derriford Hospital.

Police later found an abandoned motorbike in a car park behind the Co-operative store in Saltash. Anyone with information should call police on 08452 777444 quoting log number 386 of 7/12/09.