A MOTORCYCLIST and a pedestrian died in a crash near Ross-on-Wye, an inquest has heard.

Motorcyclist Robert Christopher Boyd, 29, of Walford, Ross, and pedestrian Thomas Edward Wheeler, 34, of Grange Park, Whitchurch, were both killed in the crash on the A40 at around 8pm on September 27 last year.

Assistant coroner for Herefordshire Roland Wooderson heard that Mr Boyd had been travelling towards Monmouth when he hit Mr Wheeler, who was crossing the road near the Daff-Y-Nant service station at Whitchurch.

Mr Wheeler had multiple injuries in the unwitnessed crash, while Mr Boyd was thrown from his bike to the central reservation, where he was run over by one or more unknown vehicles that did not stop at the scene.

The alarm was raised when other road users spotted the crashed motorbike and went to help the injured men.

Paramedics were called, but both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigating officer Sergeant Wilding told the inquest that CCTV acquired from the area had shown Mr Wheeler "walking normally" as he crossed the road.

"His speed changed when he saw the bike, but it was very last-minute. There was no time," he said.

“There was a long time between the crash and the HGV driver calling the police.

“We had about 500 cars that had passed through the area on CCTV. We had to then narrow them down and an investigation took place, but none of the cars had damage to them and the drivers did not realise there was a person in the road.”

A forensic crash investigation showed that Mr Boyd had been travelling on the unlit stretch of road at a speed of around 80 to 88mph immediately before the crash, and there were no signs of braking or skid marks on the road surface leading up to the crash site.

The road surface was in good condition, and the weather was dry.

Mr Boyd was wearing a crash helmet with a heavily tinted visor which, the investigator noted, would have worsened his vision in the dark.

Police vehicle examiner Michael Saunders said the motorbike had no mechanical or structural failures that could have affected the rider's control of the vehicle.

A toxicology report revealed that Mr Boyd had evidence of cocaine, cannabis and cocaethylene, a by-product of concurrent consumption of cocaine and alcohol, in his blood, but that it was not clear how recently the drugs had been used.

Mr Wooderson concluded that both Mr Wheeler and Mr Boyd had died from multiple injuries and trauma sustained as a consequence of a road traffic collision.