Motocross event shut after fatal crash

A MAN has died and a woman was seriously injured after both crashed in separate incidents at a motocross event.

Durham Police said they had “no choice” but to shut down the meeting on the Hardwick Motocross track near Sedgefield on safety grounds.

A spokesman said the first incident happened shortly after 1pm on Sunday when a male rider came off his bike and suffered critical injuries. He was taken by air ambulance to the James Cook Uni- versity Hospital, in Middlesbrough, but was confirmed dead shortly after arrival.

Tributes posted on a local motocross social media group described the rider, who has not been named by police, as a “lovely lad”.

The spokesman said a woman was then hurt in a separate incident just before 2.10pm. The rider, thought to be in her early 30s, was also taken by air ambulance to the same hospital.

The force said that officers then took the decision to stop the privately run event, which involved around 100 participants and 300 spectators.

Supt Mick Bird said: “We understand the formal investigation is likely to be led by the local authority but we are carrying out initial inquiries into the circumstances.

“With two very serious incidents within little more than an hour, we felt there was little choice but to bring the event to a close.”