INQUESTS are to be held tomorrow into the deaths of four men who died after collapsing in last year's Great North Run.

Terry Carney, coroner for Gateshead and South Tyneside, ordered the hearings after concerns were raised over medical help available during the event.

The men who died in the famous 13-mile Tyneside race were aged between 28 and 52, and were from Durham, Leeds, York and Kent.

Nova International, which organises the run, welcomes the hearings, but said it could not comment on individual cases.

The men who died are Phil Lewis, 52, who taught at Moorside Community College, Consett, County Durham; company director Reuben Wilson, 28, of Rawdon, Leeds; Kieran Patching, 34, of Walderslade, Kent, who ran a building firm, and David Mahaffey, 43, of York.

The inquests start tomorrow at Gateshead Civic Centre and are expected to last all week.