A MOTORCYCLIST collided with an oncoming vehicle after failing to negotiate a bend, an inquest was told yesterday.

David Kershaw died instantly after the accident in June on the B6282 at Woodland, near Barnard Castle. The 51-year-old from Salisbury Place, Bishop Auckland, had been out riding with a friend when the accident happened. Witnesses told South Durham Coroner Colin Penna that Mr Kershaw appeared to lose control of his bike as he negotiated the bend and went straight into the path of an oncoming Citroen Picasso. He recorded a verdict of accidental death.

DRIVING BAN: Christopher Stephen Roche, 19, of Osric Place, Newton Aycliffe, yesterday pleaded guilty at South Durham Magistrates Court, in Darlington, to driving while disqualified and driving with no insurance. He was given a 150-hour community punishment order, disqualified from driving for an extra six months and ordered to pay £20 costs.

INQUEST ADJOURNED: An inquest into the death of 40-year-old Andrew Peter Woodhead was opened and adjourned at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court yesterday. Mr Woodhead of Isherwood Close, Newton Aycliffe, died on Saturday night after suffering a pulmonary embolism.

HARVEST FESTIVAL: Ingleton Methodist Church is holding a concert tomorrow to celebrate harvest featuring Pick and Mix, which will be followed by supper. There will be a family harvest thanksgiving service led by the Reverend Alan Coates, on Sunday at 2.30pm.

ARTIST TRIBUTE: The Macmillan Art Group will be paying tribute in its next exhibition to its teacher Sylvia Gamble, who died recently. The display, called Out of Africa, will be held in Greenfield Community and Arts Centre, Newton Aycliffe, from Thursday, October 16 to Thursday, November 6. Earlier work by the artists will be displayed in the town's Thames Centre.

NATURAL CAUSES: A pensioner died from natural causes an inquest ruled yesterday. John Roland Nicholson, 81, from Castle Close, Stanhope, had worked with asbestos during his career as an industrial chemist but his death was not related to it said South Durham Coroner Colin Penna at Bishop Auckland Magistrates yesterday.

MUSIC SHOW: Crook Town Football Club presents singer/guitarist Trevor Sewell plus a disco on Saturday, October 25, at 8.15pm. Tickets are available from committee members.