The 25-year-old died after his green Kawasaki bike collide with a silver VW Golf travelling in the opposite direction in Cresswell Crescent. Passers-by and paramedics battled to save him but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The air ambulance landed on Fisher Green at the back of Mossley Junior School after the crash at about 11.15am on Saturday. However, it was not needed.

The driver of the other vehicle, a man, 52, was treated in hospital for minor injuries.

Police closed Cresswell Crescent, Sneyd Lane, Roche Road and Tintern Crescent as emergency services dealt with the aftermath of the crash for aboput three hours.

Floral tributes were left at the roadside today. One message pays tribute to a “funny, crazy, caring lad.”

Another reads: “To my good friend Ryan, aka Rusty, taken way too soon.”

A shop assistant from Dave’s Discount Store tried to keep the injured man from becoming unconscious.

Chris Constantinou, 38, who runs George’s Fish Bar and and also ran to assist, said: “She was holding his hand and saying ‘stay with us.’ His eyes were open but he’d been badly injured.

“The paramedics arrived and worked on him for a good hour.”

John Morgan, 52, who works at Turley’s Fruit Stores & Florist, said: “I used to ride a motorbike and I knew it was a bad accident.”

Witnesses said the rider was thrown on impact, landing almost 30ft away.

Firefighters from Bloxwich were the first to arrive. Watch commander Tim Middleton said: “We made the car safe and assisted a lone paramedic at the scene until medical back-up arrived.”

Meanwhile, police were today looking at CCTV after a man died on the busy A5 through Cannock after being hit by a lorry.

Police cordoned off the A5 Watling Street from the Longford island at Cannock to Delta Way in Bridgtown while medics and forensic officers worked at the scene.

Floral tributes to the 43-year-old man, who was from Cannock, have been left at the scene. Almost a mile stretch of the road was closed off from around 4.30am on Saturday and it reopened just after 10.30am.

Motorists also faced rush-hour delays today when a lane of the M6 was closed because of an accident.

Two cars and a van were involved in a collision on the southbound carriageway between junction 10 at Walsall and 10a Essington. The fourth lane was shut from 7.45am. One driver was taken to hospital with neck pain. Commuters faced delays of up to 25 minutes.