A COTSWOLD motorcyclist died after colliding with one vehicle and crashing into another near Northleach, an inquest was told.

Ross Barmby aged 30, from Bloxham, near Banbury, was riding his Yamaha motorcycle on the morning of November 16 2019, on the A429 Stow-on-the Wold road near Northleach, close to the Hollow Fosse Farm Clay shoot, when the tragedy happened, Gloucester Coroner's Court heard.

Mr Barmby was pronounced dead at the scene.

Anna Kirkby, who was driving a Peugeot 308, said in a statement to the inquest that she was on the A429 travelling towards Cirencester when the car in front of her slowed down for a cyclist and she did likewise.

She was aware of a silver motorcycle travelling at a safe distance behind her, she stated.

The car in front of Ms Kirkby overtook the cyclist but she stayed back as it was not safe to follow, she said.

At that point, she stated, she felt a bang at the back of the car.

Until the motorcyclist ran into her he had not given her any cause for concern, she added.

A statement from Stacey Nailer, the driver of a Kia Sportage travelling towards Leamington Spa, said she remembered seeing a blue car (Peugeot) on the opposite side of the road with a motorbike right behind it and thinking to herself 'why is he so close?'.

Ms Nailer said she then saw the motorcyclist 'flip out into the road' in front of her after hitting the blue vehicle and it slid towards her.

She took evasive action by braking as hard as she could and steered as far left as she could go but she still ended up colliding with the motorcyclist, she stated.

A post-mortem examination carried out by Dr Matthew Beesley showed there was a significant trauma to Mr Barmby’s body including a fracture of the humerus, ribs and vertebrae as well as damage to his liver. No drugs or alcohol were found in his system.

Dr Beesley concluded that Mr Barmby, a logistics manager at Cyber-Weld Ltd, had died from the effects of multiple traumatic injuries

PC Stone, a collision investigator, stated that the weather was dry and fine but cloudy. The evidence showed that the two women motorists were driving is a safe and normal manner, he said.

PC Stone said it was likely that Mr Barmby had reacted late when the vehicle in front of him slowed down for the cyclist.

PC Stone added that Mr Barmby was a 'moderately experience motorcyclist'.

Gloucestershire Coroner Katie Skerrett agreed and said: “Either Mr Barmby had a momentary lapse in concentration which resulted in a delayed reaction or he was travelling so close to the vehicle in front that a collision was unavoidable.

“The impact caused him to fall to the offside and into the path of an oncoming car resulting in his fatal injuries."

Coroner’s verdict: Road traffic related death.