AN inquest has been opened into the death of a Rossendale businessman killed in a motorcycle crash.

Father-of-two Ray Hardman, 37, Died after a high speed crash during a race event in Scarborough on Sunday.

His classic Honda CB500cc bike went out of control on a bend and collided with another machine before he was thrown into a fence.

Two spectators who had been watching the race joined race marshals and paramedics who battled to save Mr Hardman's life.

He died soon after arriving at Scarborough Hospital.

Engineer Mr Hardman, of Beech Close, Bacup, ran his own business, Unibend, in Whitworth manufacturing parts for exhausts.

The father-of-two, who lived in Bacup all his life, was a keen motorcyclist and had been racing for around 20 years. He was married to Gail and the couple had two sons, Ben, 11, and Tom, nine.

His wife and sons, who were at the race meeting but are understood to have not seen the accident, are being comforted by relatives.

"Ray was far from being a novice but the unexpected does happen in motor sport," said a spokesman for the organisers of the week.

"It has obviously put a dampener on things, Ray was very well known here and a very popular competitor."

Event organiser Peter Hillaby said that the tragic death was unfortunate but stressed that the event had the best safety record in Europe.

An inquest has been opened and adjourned pending further inquiries.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.