FREAK winds lifted a motorised trike off the road and threw it into the path of a heavy goods vehicle travelling in the opposite direction near Burnley, an inquest heard.

Gust of between 40 and 45mph may have hampered Michael Veevers before he lost control of the blue Suzuki three-wheeler and veered into the path of a lorry close to the border between Burnley and Bacup, East Lancashire Coroner's Court was told.

Mr Veevers and his 19-year-old son Dean, his passenger, were both thrown from the vehicle in the ensuing collision.

While the teenager escaped with leg injuries his 45-year-old father, of Lanehead Lane, Bacup, suffered a number of injuries and died shortly afterwards.

His son told the inquest: "The wind has got under it and thrown us across the road and as the wagon has hit us we have spun around."

Eyewitness John Tolley, who had been a front-seat passenger in a Toyota Prius following the trike, confirmed that the vehicle suddenly veered into the opposite carriageway for no apparent reason.

Accident investigator Sgt David Horsfield said he had made enquiries with a local weather expert, who estimated that the winds could have reached between 40 and 45mph on the moorland.

Addressing Dean Veevers, he said: "There was nothing wrong with the trike, there was nothing wrong with the road and there was nothing wrong with your dad.

"It is just the high winds which have caught him out."

The inquest heard that the Veevers had been returning on the trike after it had completed a successful MoT test in Burnley.

Mr Veevers was an experienced mechanic who ran Fast Line Autos in New Line, Bacup.

Recording an accidental verdict, East Lancashire coroner Richard Taylor said: "This is a most unusual set of circumstances - an absolute tragedy.”