A MATURE student has won a grant to develop a safety device for motorbikes after seeing the TV re-enactment of the death of biker Ron Cobbledick.

Tony Ward, from Stacksteads, has been awarded a £3,400 Audi Design Foundation grant for an invention to reduce motorcycle accidents.

The 42-year-old former transport manager, a biker himself, is a mature student at Bolton Institute.

He is in his final year of a BSc motor vehicle and transport studies course where he has designed a mobile proximity detector as his major final-year project.

The system includes sensors that monitor an approaching vehicle and will trigger a warning to the rider if the vehicle is too close.

Tony is a director with family firm C and D Transport in Bacup and remembers well what happened to Ron, from Burnley Road East, Waterfoot.

He left his home to travel on his scooter to Slough where he worked for Lambert Howarth in October 2000. On the M40 in Warwickshire he was knocked down by a trucker who stopped only to remove the remains of the mangled bike from under his vehicle.

Tony said: "Everyone in the business was appalled by what had happened and we as a company circulated photographs of the accident appealing for people who recognised the vehicle to call the police. "Obviously mirrors are the principle way of knowing what is behind you, but this could provide secondary device which would be useful if there is low visibility.

"Safety clothing and equipment has provided improved protection to motorcyclists but inhibited their freedom of movement and observation.

"My detector would monitor the presence of other vehicles allowing the rider to take evasive action if necessary.

"I'm certain that my invention would lead to a reduction in accidents involving motorcycles many of which are caused by inattentive motorists."

Ron's widow Audrey welcomed Tony's project and she said: "If this had been on the market Ron would have been one of the first to buy it he was so safety conscious.

"I wish him every success with it and I hope that it does become available for people to buy.

"Even if it saves just one life or stops one person being maimed it will be worth it. I think it is brilliant."

Tony began the project last February and aims to complete it in December. A lot of the testing will be carried out on Tony's own ZZR6 motorbike which he uses to travel to the full-time course.

Audi design foundation manager Michael Farmer said: "Tony has clearly done his research in to road traffic accidents involving motorcycles and the fact that a common response from car drivers is, 'I didn't see the motorbike'. "Any design aimed at reducing death on the road deserves to see the light of day."

Pathway leader of the course Jim England said: "The MV and TS course at Bolton Institute welcomes the grant Tony has been awarded.

"The encouragement provided by the awards scheme enables students to turn their ideas into reality."

Since the award was launched in 1998, more than 50 grants have been awarded totalling nearly £250,000.

The Audi Design Foundation is a registered charity offering awards to young British design and technology students to get their idea from drawing board to prototype stage and hopefully manufacture.