A QUICK-thinking motorcyclist prevented potential disaster on a busy street in Bowness.

Paul Cunningham, of Chorley, was passing through the town to go off-roading in the South Lakes when he spotted a jet ski on a trailer break loose from a car on Cragg Brow.

The trailer started to pick up speed as it moved down the slope until Mr Cunningham jammed the front wheel of his motorcycle underneath it, causing it to stop.

Mr Cunningham, 46, said: "If the trailer had not been stopped and gone down the hill I am sure that it would not have been a good outcome.

"It is quite a steep hill and it was a very busy Sunday daytime. I just thought that I needed to do something.

"My bike is an off-road bike so it is quite light and there is not much on it to damage. I can always replace plastic and metal so I just did the best thing I could."

Mr Cunningham, who works as an oil heating engineer and often travels to the Lake District for work as well as leisure, commonly wears a helmet camera while he is riding so he can share videos with fellow motorcyclists.

During this incident he happened to have the camera switched on, and has uploaded the video to youtube.

Once the trailer had been retrieved the driver of the car thanked Mr Cunningham and offered to pay for any damage the incident caused to the motorcycle.

Since the incident, Mr Cunningham's video has attracted attention on social media with comments thanking him for his effort.

Laura Slade commented on the Facebook post: "Wow, so lucky you were there to stop it. The owner should be so grateful, you saved him from a horrific situation!"

Also commenting on the post, Shirley Mickelfield said: "On that steep hill it could have killed someone. Well done you and thank goodness you were there."