A LOVING husband and caring colleague tragically died after he lost control of his motorbike and crashed into a central reservation, an inquest heard.

Ian Hamill, 51, of Alpraham Crescent in Upton, was driving home from work when his bike clipped the kerb of the A54 Warrington Road, throwing him from the seat before hitting a signpost on the central reservation, leaving him with fatal head injuries.

During an inquest on Friday into Mr Hamill’s death his wife Valerie described her husband as a ‘quietly extraordinary man’ who loved playing football, running and walking, and would be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.

At just after 6.40pm on Thursday, September 29, last year Mr Hamill was driving home from a meeting in Runcorn when he exited Junction 12 of the M53 on his black Triumph Sprint motorbike and drove on to the A56, approaching the Hoole roundabout.

Witnesses described how Mr Hamill appeared to be struggling to control his bike before clipping the kerb and being thrown from the seat, hitting his head against a sign post in the central reservation.

Two doctors, who were on their way home from the Countess of Chester Hospital, rushed to help the 51-year-old at the roadside, but he sadly died at 3.45 the following morning at the hospital from multiple serious head injuries.

In a statement read out at the inquest Adam Rose, who was driving behind the motorbike at the time, said Mr Hamill was in control until moments before the accident occurred.

“It all happened very suddenly,” he said. “The bike just appeared to run out of road and hit the kerb. The rider came off the bike and he was thrown into the central reservation and his head hit the pole. The bike carried on down the road.

“Up until he hit the kerb I never thought that he was going to hit anything and when he did it was a complete shock.”

PC Peter McDonna, who investigated the scene of the crash, confirmed there were no faults with the motorbike and that Mr Hamill had been driving at a safe speed of about 40-50mph when he struck the kerb.

At the time of his death, Mr Hamill was a highly regarded group head of property services at Great Places Housing Group in Manchester, a role which was responsible for the maintenance of 16,000 properties.

Gary O’Sheil, who was at a meeting with Mr Hamill on the day of the accident, paid tribute to his colleague saying he was ‘calm and collected and easy to get on with’ even when he was unhappy with something.

Born in Coventry, Mr Hamill moved to Chester at the beginning of the 80s to work as a maths teacher at Christleton High School and later at Malbank High School in Nantwich.

He subsequently worked as a housing officer in Bolton for Manchester Methodist Housing Association now known as Great Places Housing Group, Manchester.

He was a keen runner, taking part in various mountain marathons and orienteering challenges and completing the Manchester 10k three times.

Recording a verdict of death by misadventure, deputy coroner for Cheshire Michael Wallbank said the reasons for Mr Hamill’s death were unclear and would probably always remain so.