HOLIDAYMAKERS are dicing with death when they ride motorbikes without any practice or tuition during sunshine breaks abroad.

The warning was given at an inquest into the death of two Blackburn youngsters who died when the 75cc Honda Vision scooter they were riding collided with a Fiat Tipo car in Ibiza last August.

The accident happened as driver Hannah Frances Strass, 18, and 20-year-old passenger Alison Henry were travelling back to their resort after a night out with friends.

Alison, a telephonist - receptionist died instantly from multiple injuries and student Hannah, who had never ridden a scooter before, died of a head injury in a Palma hospital four days later.

During the inquest Alfred Henry said that his daughter and Hannah would not have had to travel 25 miles back to their apartment at 3.45am if First Choice holiday company had based them with their friends, as they requested, instead of in a lonely resort.

But police warned of the dangers of inexperienced riders hiring motorbikes after reporting that the girls' scooter had pulled out of a T-junction onto a dual carriageway in front of the car.

PC Simon Batten, from the Lancashire Police accident investigation unit at Hutton, based his findings on reports received from Spanish officers at the scene, including a statement from the Fiat driver.

He said: "It appears that the initial cause of the accident was the motorcycle rider not halting at a stop sign with a secondary cause being that the car driver was travelling with dipped headlights instead of fullbeam as there was no on-coming traffic at the time."

PC Batten warned: "It is always nice being able to ride a scooter in a warm climate but people need to be very careful.

"It is a cheap method of getting around and it tends to be younger people with less experience of riding.

"You have to think about controlling the bike as well as following unfamiliar road regulations. It is down to capability. If people do hire them they should be exceptionally careful."

Coroner Andre Rebello recorded a verdict of accidental death on both girls.

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