A Highbridge biker died of multiple injuries after colliding with a van.

Ian Barnard died after his 900cc Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle crashed into a Ford transit van while attempting to overtake a lorry just before a bend on Burnham Moor Lane.

A statement by lorry driver John Keith, who was transporting live chickens to a factory in Highbridge, said: “There was a motorbike behind, I could see he was on the wrong side of the road about to overtake.

“In the opposite direction was a van, it was along side me when he collided with it.

“There was a loud bang and the bike started to break up, I didn’t see what happened to the rider.”

A statement by van driver Christopher Young said: “I saw a huge lorry coming towards me. We came to a right-hand bend and I couldn’t see any one behind it.

“I was travelling at 50-60mph when a bike pulled out straight into my path.

“It happened so quickly, I braked hard and swerved to try to avoid a collision.

“The rider went straight into the windscreen and the bike broke apart. I drove straight into a ditch.

“I could see the driver behind me and lorry driver, running towards him.”

Two women arrived who were CPR trained and performed it until a first responder arrived to take over.

Despite the best efforts of paramedics the 57-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene, at 3.30pm on April 26.

A post-mortem report by Stephen Holwill concluded Mr Barnard had died of multiple injuries and had no drugs or alcohol in his blood at the time of his death.

Vehicle investigator Jeffrey French, in a report to Taunton’s Coroners Court, stated there were no defects to either the van or motorcycle which would have contributed to the crash.

Collision investigator Simon Wilson stated he could not ascertain what speed the motorcycle had been travelling at the time of the crash but concluded that none of the vehicles involved in the incident were being driven in an improper manner at the time of the collision.

Senior coroner Tony Williams, chairing the inquest on December 19, concluded Mr Barnard died as the result of a road traffic accident.