A 21 year old motorcyclist who crashed to his death near Redmarley was almost three times over the drink-drive limit and had also taken cocaine and an anti depressant drug, an inquest heard.

But mystery surround the time of his death and the finding of his body.

Harry Taylor was not wearing a crash helmet and was riding a motocross bike without lights and with under-inflated off-road tyres, the Gloucester inquest was told.

He lost control and rode off the carriageway of Bromsberrow road, Redmarley, onto the offside verge where he hit a telegraph pole and crashed into undergrowth.

The inquest heard that the only unexplained aspect of his fatal crash was when it happened - he was last been seen alive on the night of November 8, 2019 but his body and motorcycle were not found until the morning of November 10.

His mother told the inquest she found it unbelievable that he could have lain dead and undiscovered at the scene from the Friday night till the Sunday morning. She herself had travelled past several times that weekend without seeing anything, she said.

The coroner heard that police found no identification on Mr Taylor or his machine but were able to identify him by his fingerprints.

A post mortem by Home Office pathologist Dr Rik James found that Mr Taylor died from a 'devastating head injury including a fractured skull "which would have caused immediate death".

He had 239mgs of alcohol in his blood - the legal limit being 80mgs - and he had taken cocaine and Sertraline fairly recently.

Police collision investigator Pc Gemma Carman said Mr Taylor had been riding an FYY off road motocross bike which had tyres unsuitable for road use. They were also under inflated for use on the road.

No crash helmet was found at the scene but a flat tweed cap was discovered, she said.

Asked by Gloucestershire deputy Coroner Roland Wooderson how she thought the crash had occurred, the officer said "The cause of the collision was a vehicle unsuitable for the road being ridden in an unsuitable condition on the road by Mr Taylor when he was intoxicated with alcohol and cocaine.

"This resulted in him riding off the carriageway onto the offside verge and colliding with a telegraph pole which threw him from the bike which caused the fatal injuries he sustained.

"The road had no defects and there were no obvious signs of anything which would have contributed to him coming off the road. The motorcycle had no lighting,. There was a bulb fitted but it was not operational."

Mr Taylor's mother told coroner she could not understand how he was not seen before Sunday morning if the crash had occurred on the Friday night.

Both she and her son had driven the road that weekend and saw nothing, she said.

The officer said Mr Taylor had last been seen on the Friday night at 11.30pm. No other sightings had been made that weekend and Mr Taylor had not fulfilled plans he had made for that Saturday.

The coroner formally recorded a conclusion that Mr Taylor, of Redmarley, died as a result of a road traffic collision.