A MAN died in a road accident as he cycled home from work after dark, an inquest has heard.

Robert Pearson was certified dead on arrival at Durham's University Hospital of North Durham, after the accident on Tuesday night.

He was involved in a collision with a Peugeot 306 on an unlit stretch of Pittington Lane, between Pittington and Broomside, near Durham.

The car driver, a 53-year-old woman from Durham, was shocked, but unhurt.

Mr Pearson is believed to have been cycling from Kerry Foods' Gilesgate Moor premises, in Durham, to his home in Ullswater Avenue, Easington Lane, near Houghton-le-Spring, County Durham.

North Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle adjourned the hearing, in Durham, pending further inquiries into the accident, allowing Mr Pearson's family to proceed with funeral arrangements.

Durham Police accident investigation unit has appealed for information from witnesses to the collision, which took place 100 yards north-east of the entrance to Fatfield House Farm, on the C13 Pittington Lane, at about 10.10pm.

Anyone with information is asked to call the traffic unit, on 0191-386 4929.