THREE bikers had been on a pub crawl before one of them careered off the road into a tree, an inquest heard.

Neil Eyles, who had drunk more than three times the legal alcohol limit, died from head and chest injuries after his powerful Yamaha R1, borrowed from the landlord of a Harrogate pub, left the A61 on the outskirts of Ripon, North Yorkshire.

Coroner Geoff Fell, who had adjourned the hearing a fortnight ago when one of the three bikers, Peter Wood, failed to turn up, recorded a verdict of accidental death on 36-year-old Mr Eyles, of Elmwood Street, Harrogate.

He heard how Mr Eyles, Mr Wood and Edward Plumpton met at the Sun Inn, Norwood, and later visited pubs at Riffa and Knaresborough before returning to the Oak Beck in Bilton, where their bikes had come from.

They then rode to Ripon and drank in the Unicorn before setting back to Harrogate with Mr Eyles and Mr Wood riding repeatedly passing each other at speed.

Yesterday, Mr Plumpton put the speed at double the 30mph limit as they left Ripon, but Mr Wood denied they were racing. He also denied witnessing the collision.

Police accident investigator Michael Natt said there could have been contact between the bikes or Mr Eyles may have simply failed to negotiate a bend, his judgement affected by alcohol.

Recording his verdict, Mr Fell said he had doubts about some of the evidence heard.