Air ambulance called after 90mph water ski crash at Hanseatic Festival in King’s Lynn

A water skier crashed at 90mph to bring day two of the Hanseatic Festival of Watersports in Lynn to an early end on Sunday.

The competitor was in the early stages of the penultimate race of the afternoon at around 4.45pm when he lost control while being towed by a speedboat.

Eyewitnesses said the racer hit the River Great Ouse face-first after adjusting the position of one of his water skis and floated face down until a rescue boat reached him moments later.

An air ambulance scrambled to the scene, landing towards the southern end of South Quay 30 minutes later as paramedics treated the injured man.

Officials cancelled the final race of the day by 5pm, with stewards diverting hundreds of spectators who had lined the quay back into the town centre.

Organisers of Europe's biggest watersports festival have not yet commented.