A MOTORCYCLIST died after losing control of his bike during a visit to the Lake District, an inquest heard yesterday.

Plasterer Ian Watt, from Darlington, and his friends, Robert Longstaff and Brian Greaves, were riding their bikes when the accident happened, on April 12 last year.

The 42-year-old lost control of his Honda machine on a bend on the A593, near Coniston, the Middlesbrough inquest heard.

A police investigation concluded that Mr Watt's back wheel had locked up as he braked, making the bike slide across the road and into the path of an oncoming car.

He suffered multiple fractures and was taken to Furness General Hospital, in Barrow.

He was later transferred for specialist care at the James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, where he died from severe head injuries on April 19.

Mr Longstaff, of Clifton Road, Darlington, told the inquest that the trio had been riding at about 40mph when they approached a left-hand bend.

"I remember Ian going around the bend and as I followed, I saw his bike lying in the road," he said. "I put my brakes on and swerved around the bike to stop."

"We hadn't gone for the speed. We only wanted to go for a ride out."

The inquest heard that Graham Askew, of Greater Manchester, was driving a silver Ford Fiesta when the bike and rider slid across the road.

Cleveland coroner Michael Sheffield recorded a verdict of accidental death on Mr Watt, who lived in Westbourne Road, Darlington.