A LEARNER motorcyclist has been injured after crashing with a car at a busy Bolton junction.

The rider was turning right in a westbound queue of traffic from Bury Road into Crompton Way at 9.35am this morning when it struck a white BMW 1 Series hatchback.

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said: "We were called at about 9.40am to reports of a collision between a motorcycle and a car.

"It is thought to have involved a black motorbike and a white Ford Focus.

"The motorcyclist, believed to be a man in his 20s, was taken to hospital but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening."

However, North West Ambulance Service said the rider was 17 and although he had suffered an "injury to the lower side" he was not actually taken to hospital.

The young man had been riding a black and green-liveried Aprilia fitted with L-plates.

After the collision it lay on its side damaged with debris spread around for an hour before friends of the victim collected the machine on a car-towed trailer.

It is not clear in which direction the BMW was travelling or turning when it was struck by the bike and it was later seen parked up with extensive scrape marks and damaged bodywork on its rear nearside wing.

A police patrol car was parked behind the stricken bike in the middle of the junction, which lay on the borders of Tonge Moor and Breightmet, and traffic had to swerve round both vehicles until the scene was cleared at around 11am.