A CYCLIST died after falling off a bike which had a major fault.

The public are being warned there are still almost 2,000 faulty bikes on the streets.

Jonathan Weatherley, 43, of Church Street in Sible Hedingham, died when he came off his bicycle after braking suddenly in Lorkin's Lane, in Twinstead, on August 23 last year.

It is thought he could have been avoiding debris or animals in the road and he was left there for 90 minutes until a passer-by spotted him and phoned paramedics at 3.40pm.

His bicycle, Kinesis Racelight TK2, had a bonding failure between two parts - the fork crown and the steerer tube.

Photo: Sport in Pictures

A recall notice for the fault, stating there was a possibility of the loss of control or a fall, was not issued until October 9, 2015, two months after Mr Weatherley's death.

Pc Katherine Burke, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit with Essex Police, said: "I arrived at the scene about an hour and a 15 minutes after the incident was reported at 3.40pm.

"We found out through his Garmin that he stopped cycling some time before we got there.

"It was a clear day and a bright evening. It had rained prior to me getting there.

"A cyclist had been found in the carriageway entangled in the bike. The bicycle's front wheel was detached and located close by up against a bank.”

Senior coroner Caroline Beasley-Murray commended Mr Weatherley's parents, Angela and Stephen, on their dignity throughout the inquest.

She said: "The court has been very aware that you have had the ordeal of sitting through the inquest.

"Jonathan was clearly much loved son and brother, he was an architect and a keen cyclist.

"Jonathan Weatherley probably applied braking through his front brakes for some unknown reason, causing the bonding between the carbon fibre blades and aluminium crown to fail, as a result of the fact that the bonding material had not adequately bonded these two components together.

"Jonathan died as a result of his injuries sustained in this accident.”

Alistair Mackenzie of Leigh Day law firm asked the coroner to make a report to trading standards to prevent further deaths.

He said: "Around 90 per cent of the products have not been taken from circulation and only 246 of about 2,000 have been returned."

Steven North, representing Upgrade Bikes Ltd, said every effort had been made to circulate the recall notice once the fault had become apparent.

He said: "It was sent to shops, put on the company website and circulated on social media. Action has been taken and will continue to be taken.

"There is one report of a problem with the bonding material on the crown. The company will update the recall notice and Trading Standards."