HUNDREDS of bikers from all over Europe will be in the North-East today to act as an escort for one of their "brothers" on his final journey.
Michael Horner, known by friends as Inch, was killed when his bike collided with a 4x4 vehicle close to Balmoral Castle in Scotland where the Queen, Prince Philip and Prince Charles were staying.
The Royal Family prayed for 33-year-old Inch, from Shildon, County Durham, at a church service the day after the accident earlier this month.
His mother Rita, 62, has been inundated with cards and letters from as far away as Macedonia.
Inch, who leaves a nine-year-old son, Andrew, was described by friends as short in stature but big in personality
Up to 500 fellow bikers from as far as Lithuania will make the long journey to his funeral at St Thomas's Church, in Shildon, today.
The two-wheeled entourage will escort his body from Howden-le-Wear to where he lived with his mother in Co-operative Street, in Shildon, and then onto the service at St Thomas's, before travelling to Durham Crematorium.
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