A VALE councillor was killed while riding his motorcycle, an inquest heard.

Cardiff Coroner's Court was told that Rhoose independent councillor Phil Clarke died after his motorbike was involved in a collision with a lorry in March.

The inquest heard how on a clear sunny and dry day at around 11.45am, a Scania HGV lorry had collided with Mr Clarke's bike whilst turning at a junction, knocking him off his bike, before he went under the lorry causing fatal multiple blunt injuries.

Earlier that day, Mr Clarke arrived at his friend David Dinsdale's house with a new BMW bike which he said he was confident he could handle better because it was smaller.

The two made their way to Llandow racing circuit and the ride was described as "normal" by Mr Dinsdale, with clear and dry conditions.

Mr Dinsdale described Mr Clarke as a "competent rider" who had been riding for most of his life.

When he left Llandow, Mr Clarke was seen riding off slowly and carefully as he normally would.

Not long afterwards, Mr Dinsdale heard that there had been a collision between a motorcyclist and a lorry on the Llantwit Major road and he thought it could have been Mr Clarke.

Michael Hobbs, who was the driver off of the Scania HGV truck, said he did not see Mr Clarke at any point.

Mr Hobbs who has been driving HGVs for 40-45 years was travelling to Llantrisant via Llandow and was turning onto the B4270

He said he has driven this type of vehicle for 20 years and is familiar with it.

He said: "There was a car in front of me and I was travelling slowly and the traffic was very busy. I have three mirrors and my indicator was on to turn left.

"I had to take up a position in the middle of the road to turn because of the length (35 foot) of the vehicle."

He said at no point did he see Mr Clarke coming up on his inside and that he would have if he'd appeared in his mirrors because he checked them.

Mr Hobbs said: "I heard a scrape on the side of my vehicle which I though was the pop shaft coming out.

"I completed the turn and stopped with my hazards on and when I got out I saw a motorcycle under my front axle.

"I then saw the motorcyclist lying in the middle of the road and I was shocked. I couldn't believe it."

Tests showed the lorry had not travelled above 12.5 mph as it approached the junction with Mr Hobbs saying he was doing two or three mph at the time of the collision.

The police's traffic collision investigating officer, Christopher Street said he couldn't be sure that Mr Clarke had actually tried to go up the inside but said that this was a move that had its risks.

He said: "I can't say whether he did do this but I would not feel comfortable doing this and it is against the highway code which says you must approach a junction with caution when travelling behind a large vehicle where the driver might not be able to see you."

He added that there were no adverse effects to either vehicle that would have been contributing factors

Mr Street concluded that the bike had made contact with one of the bumpers of the vehicle which cause it to wobble.

In summing up, the coroner said that the intention of Mr Clarke could never be known but that perhaps he had misjudged it and only realised when it was too late.

He said that he "accepted" that Mr Hobbs was an experienced and competent driver who had not seen Mr Clarke at any point.

Several passers by tried their best to help Mr Clarke by administering CPR and emergency services cordoned off the scene but Mr Clarke died very soon after the collision.

Mr Woolley recorded his death as being the result of an accidental road traffic collision which caused multiple blunt injuries.