A MARATHON charity motorbike journey by three friends ended in tragedy as they rode through Mongolia.

Jon Turner, 26, of Great Whittington, near Corbridge, Tynedale, died when his bike spun out of control in strong winds on a bend in the road.

Mr Turner and his friends Nigel Martin, 26, and Mark Bodger, 22, from Corbridge, were a third of the way through a 15,000-mile trip from Newcastle to Newcastle, in Australia, to raise money for Cancer Research.

The tragedy happened last Thursday when the men were 110 miles from the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar, where they were intending to rest for a week.

Mr Turner was knocked unconscious in the crash and died two hours later in a remote clinic, where medical supplies are thought to have been limited.

The trek began on June 27, five days after Mr Turner had said goodbye to family and friends at a charity ball.

The trio took the ferry from North Shields to Kristiansand, in Norway, and had travelled to Mongolia, via Finland and Russia.

Mr Turner's father Max said: "The accident was a combination of cruel circumstances - the wind, and the bend in the road.

"You can speculate that if they had been nearer the capital, he might have got better medical attention, but you don't know."