A TEENAGE motorcycling enthusiast fell to his death after losing control of his bike while racing at a former quarry, an inquest has heard.

Matthew Entwistle, 15, suffered multiple injuries when he dropped 20 feet down the vertical slope at Whitworth’s Cowm Quarry, an organised venue which features tracks for off-road bikers.

An inquest at Burnley Crown Court heard that Matthew had been riding on a motocross bike with a friend when he lost control of his bike while trying to negotiate at dip in the track.

It was told that Matthew, of Rochdale Road, Britannia, had never ridden on the track before, there was no fencing at the point where he fell or signs warning about the dangers.

A solicitor representing Matthew’s family called the safety system employed at the quarry ‘shabby’ but the owners of the site, Cowm Leisure, denied there was insufficient signage.

The inquest, which is expected to last three days, is taking place in front of a jury because the accident occurred in a public arena and concerns health and safety issues.

Matthew’s 17-year-old friend, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that nobody had warned them to stay away from the track.

He added: “I was behind him. We both knew where we were going, he turned a little to the right and went down the dip and that’s where he lost control.

“I did not follow him down the dip I carried on on the left hand side. He had gone down and had landed on the upside of the dip and his legs came off the bike.”

Jonathan Boyle, acting for Matthew’s family, said the track had only recently been introduced and that Matthew had never ridden along it before.

He said: “The distance between the edge of the dip and where Matt fell off is quite near to a very high drop. There were no warning signs.”

The pair had been brought to the quarry by Matthew’s friend’s father, who said they had driven away on their motorcross trail bikes before a briefing could be given to them.

John Whittle, one of the directors of Cowm Leisure, said the briefing would not have included a warning about the embankment which Matthew, who studied at Fearns Community Sports College, went over because it was 100 metres away from the track.

He said fencing had been placed at the site after the accident - previously there was only blue rope - and he denied there was insufficient signage to mark the track.

Mr Boyle criticised the poorly marked track. He said: “This looks a pretty shabby system which directs people around a course where people can die. There’s nothing to stop someone riding off the ridge, overbalance and fall off to their death.”

Darren Coy, the director who was responsible for health and safety, denied the signing and fencing was insufficient.

Mr Coy, who had designed the course, admitted that more could have been done in relation to health and safety with ‘hindsight.’ He had been told by the Auto Cycle Union (ACU), which governs motorsport in the UK, they couldn’t help him with guidelines for the track.

Mr Boyle said the company should have had a pen or a fence at the start of the course to stop people racing without a briefing and criticised the company for failing to undertake the necessary health and safety assessment.

He said: “The ACU said after visiting the facilities the adequacy of the route marking was questionable and not at regular intervals.”

The inquest was told the only occasion that Cowm Leisure had contacted the council was for planning permission for the construction of the course.

The jury spent the morning visiting the scene of the accident, which occurred in August 2006.

Proceeding.