Ambulance crews sparked an angry backlash by writing #nohelmet in a tweet about an elderly cyclist being taken to hospital following a crash.

https://twitter.com/LAS_JRU/status/700378372325711873

Police were called to Northchurch Road, De Beauvoir, at 2pm yesterday by London Ambulance Service, who found the man in his 70s with head injuries after colliding with a van.

An LAS Twitter account said he was taken to a major trauma centre as a priority and angered users by writing #nohelmet.

User @Jono_Kenyon said there was no need for the hashtag, saying “we don’t do it for drivers” but Hackney police, tweeting from their @MPSHackney account, defended their emergency services partners.

The Joint Response Unit who posted the original tweet then claimed a helmet would have prevented further head injuries, which, again, was met with anger.

User @stuarthelmer replied: “There is *absolutely no way* you can know that. Sloppy thinking.”