SPEED was not a factor in a crash which killed a motorcyclist.

Rugby player Luke Merchant, 25, died when his Yamaha bike was in collision with a white Peugeot van in Forstal Way, Aylesford, on Friday, July 13, last year.

At an inquest into his death, held at County Hall, Maidstone, on Wednesday, a forensic crash investigator told the hearing that Mr Merchant's speed at the time of the collision was estimated at 37mph, three miles an hour below the road's limit.

Kent Police crash investigator, PC Kevin Storey said Mr Merchant's bike struck a van turning right into the Deacon Industrial Estate, causing damage to the van's offside front corner.

He said: "The van was encroaching onto the motorbike's lane."

Mr Merchant, of High Street, West Malling, and a member of Vigo Rugby Club, Meopham, was thrown from his bike, suffering multiple injuries.

He was dead on arrival at Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham.