Council’s road rap over biker tragedy

Liam Whitehead with his daughter Poppy

AN Oldham coroner has criticised the council’s lack of action to repair a road in Denshaw following the death of experienced biker last year.

At the inquest of Liam Whitehead, (44), yesterday, coroner Simon Nelson said he would be writing to the council to raise concerns about a subsiding stretch of the A640 Huddersfield Road near Denshaw, which may have caused Liam Whitehead to lose control of his Yamaha bike and crash into a ditch on March 1 last year.

It’s the second time in just over a month that the council has come under fire for substandard roads contributing to deaths in the borough. The inquest heard how a witness had seen the the father-of-one, from Huddersfield, begin to wobble from side to side before losing control as the road curved.

PC David Poole, who attended the scene, said he disagreed with a report by the council’s highways department that the road’s surface could be ruled out as a contributing factor.

He said he had measured the subsided section of the road as 45mm below the normal level, deeper than the council’s 40mm standard benchmark to identify emergency repairs.

Despite this, the council has still not carried out repair works, more than 18 months after the accident.

Coroner Simon Nelson said: “I have a very experienced collision expert giving me evidence he has residual concerns about the area which is clearly not going to be addressed.

“One death is one death too many, the last thing I want to hear is of another accident in the same spot.

“The concerns are not going to go away.”

The coroner raised similar concerns in September, criticising the council over not acting swiftly following two fatalities on the A627 Ripponden Road, Moorside.

Mick Dyson, Liam Whitehead’s brother-in-law and friend of 30 years, said: “I feel that if the road had have been in A1 condition he would probably still be with us.

“We’re annoyed that the council is disregarding the fact that the road is in this condition. It just doesn’t add up. How can you refute an expert opinion?”

Pathologists concluded Liam died of multiple injuries and a verdict of misadventure was recorded.