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A 79-year-old lost his fight for life after he was involved in a collision with a cyclist on a busy Derbyshire road.

John Beach, who was also known as Trevor, died in hospital on April 18 this year - two days after he suffered serious injuries after the collision in Nottingham Road, Ripley.

Emergency services were at the scene and the road was was closed between Brittain Drive and Steam Mill Lane, Derbyshire Times reports.

Mr Beach, a retired engineer, lived on Nottingham Road and was formerly secretary of Codnor Cricket Club.

His son, Cristopher Beach, said his father died as a result of a 'tragic accident'.

An inquest into Mr Beach's death was put on hold as Derbyshire assistant coroner Sarah Huntbach had asked police to carry out further investigations to determine the speed the cyclists were travelling - during an initial hearing in October. The inquest was resumed on Thursday, December 19.

Chesterfield coroners' court heard how friends Craig Bond and James Holmes were cycling on Nottingham Road at around 5pm on April, 16 when the crash occurred.

Giving evidence at the earlier hearing, Mr Bond said: "He (Mr Beach) stepped out in front of me - he came out of nowhere.

"I couldn't have done anything to prevent it."

PC Lee Simpson, a forensic collision investigator with Derbyshire Constabulary, said tests concluded there were no defects with Mr Bond's bike.

He told the court he carried out CCTV analysis and calculated that Mr Bond was travelling at an average speed of 38mph. The speed limit on Nottingham Road is 30mph.

This speed was questioned at the earlier hearing by Mr Bond, so PC Simpson was asked to carry out further analysis of the speed using a Garmin cycle computer mounted to Mr Holmes’ bike.

Thursday’s inquest heard data from the computer confirmed Mr Bond was travelling at an average speed of about 38mph prior to the collision but slowed to 29mph before the impact.

Recording a verdict that Mr Beach died as a result of a road traffic collision, Ms Huntbach said the tragic incident was due to ‘a tragic combination of factors’.

She said: “Mr Beach did not see the cyclists and they did not see him until it was too late.”

The coroner also said speed limits on roads only referred to motor vehicles but she would be filing a report asking whether regulations should include pedal cyclists in future.