AN inquest has opened into the death of a motorcyclist during a biking festival.

James Daniel Casey, 46, from Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire, died in Bishop Auckland General Hospital following an accident on the A68 at Tow Law, County Durham. He had been attending a Motorcycle Action Group rally, at Witton Castle.

Coroner Colin Penna adjourned the inquest at Bishop Auckland Magistrates' Court, yesterday.

Bishop Auckland police confirmed that Thomas Patrick Dawson, 44, from Preston, Lancashire, who died at the festival, had suffered a heart attack.