AN A&E consultant described how a motorcyclist glanced off the side of her car then ploughed head-on into another, an inquest has heard.

In a statement read at an inquest into the death of 66-year-old biker Brian Davies, Dr Cerys Griffiths said she assumed he was deceived by a bend on the B4293 at Lydart, between Monmouth and Trellech, where the crash happened on July 30 last year.

Mr Davies and his 1100cc Honda Blackbird approached her on the wrong side of the road, dealt her car a “glancing blow” then hit a Volkswagen Passat, the Gwent Coroner's Court sitting in Newport heard.

Dr Griffiths, who lived in Chepstow at the time, and works in Gloucester, assessed Mr Davies but found him “totally unresponsive.” The inquest heard he died of multiple injuries.

Mr Davies, of Ross-on-Wye, was motorcycling that Saturday morning with brother-in-law Adrian Baker and two others, and was behind them when the collision happened. Mr Baker stopped to wait for him in nearby Trellech, before riding back and finding him lying in the debris-strewn road.

It could not be ascertained how fast Mr Davies was travelling at the time of the crash.

Land Rover driver Stephen Helme - ahead of Dr Griffiths at the time - said three motorbikes passed him, then a fourth travelling, he thought, too fast for the corner. He described the bike crossing into oncoming traffic, and an “explosive impact”.

The court heard Passat driver Alex Pelling tried unsuccessfully to avoid the bike as it came at him on the wrong side of the road. The coroner concluded that Mr Davies' death was accidental.