MOTORCYCLIST Gary Croft worked and played hard and enjoyed life to the full, his wife Marion told an inquest this week.

Mr Croft suffered massive chest injuries when he lost control of his 1,000cc bike and hit an oncoming Land Rover Discovery.

The accident happened on the Macclesfield to Buxton road near the Cat and Fiddle pub, a stretch popular with motorcylists because of its bends.

Mr Croft, aged 38, from Heath Road, Congleton, had taken his bike out for a run on a Sunday morning last August.

The inquest heard how he lost control of the Honda Firestorm as he overtook another motorcycle coming out of a bend.

He came off his bike, and both he and the Honda hit the oncoming Discovery.

Dr Janet Napier, assistant deputy coroner for Cheshire, returned a verdict of accidental death at the inquest.

"This is an extremely tragic case, particularly as Mr Croft had a young baby," she said.

"He lived life to the full, and died doing what he thoroughly enjoyed doing."

Mr Croft was the stores manager at Campey's at Marton, and had a seven-month-old baby daughter Katie Saer.

Vincent Bradley told the inquest how he and his brother Paul and friend Adam Gerard had ridden their motorbikes to the Cat and Fiddle from Derby on the morning of the accident.

Mr Croft was leaning 'really far over' as he overtook him on a bend, he said, and lost control of the Honda.

"The bike skidded across the white line, and he followed it," he said.

There was a 'huge explosion' of pieces of the Honda as it hit the Discovery, and the flying debris knocked Mr Bradley off his 750cc bike.

Dr Napier said Discovery driver Ian Stewart had no chance of avoiding a collision, as police estimated only a second elapsed between Mr Croft losing control and the crash.

Mrs Croft said her husband had ridden the Cat and Fiddle road for between 7-10 years, and went there every Sunday.

"He worked hard and played hard, and enjoyed life to the full - everyone loved him," she said.