ACCIDENT verdicts were recorded on two motorcyclists who died on Dales roads within weeks of each other.

Martin McLoughlin, 34, of Darlington, and John Hewitt, 59, of Sedburgh, Cumbria, were both experienced bikers who bought new machines just weeks before their deaths.

Mr McLoughlin, a railway worker, was killed last September on the B6270 Reeth to Richmond road. He was the lead rider in a group of five when he lost control on a series of bends and came off his black Suzuki. He struck a sapling at the side of the road and died at the scene.

At last week's inquests, at Richmond Town Hall, coroner Geoff Fell said: "It was not speed, it was just that Martin got the line wrong and so, as a consequence of that, he had occasion to brake and lost control of the bike."

John Hewitt died last October when he failed to negotiate a bend on the B6255 Ingleton to Hawes road. He came off his blue Yamaha Fazer and struck a wooden fence post at the side of the road. He died from severe head injuries. There were no witnesses.

Mr Fell said: "There are so many questions that we will never know the answer to. He wasn't going fast on a road he was familiar with. It is yet another instance of a motorcyclist being killed on North Yorkshire roads."

A total of 28 bikers were killed in the county last year.