A MOTORCYCLIST died when he lost control of his bike after narrowly avoiding a collision with a Royal Mail lorry.

Lukasz Imielski was killed when his motorbike collided with a tree on the A337 Lymington Road, near Brockenhurst, on the morning of March 17.

The 34-year-old had been following a Renault van which was overtaking an Ocado delivery van on the road near Setley Ridge Vineyard.

As the Renault pulled back into the southbound lane, the motorcycle was almost involved in a collision with a Royal Mail lorry travelling in the opposite direction.

Mr Imielski took evasive action, cutting past the Royal Mail truck on the inside, but lost control of his Honda VRF 500. The vehicle left the road and collided with a tree.

The drivers of the Ocado and Royal Mail vehicles stopped and called 999. Both attempted to give medical help to Mr Imielski, who was slumped and unresponsive.

Peter Andrews, who was driving the Royal Mail truck, told an inquest in Winchester this week: “I saw him come down by the side of me and thought ‘you cheeky blighter’.

“I really thought he had made it but when I saw the Ocado van stop I knew that, sadly, he had not.”

An off-duty paramedic and a first responder arrived shortly after the collision and performed CPR until emergency services arrived.

Despite their efforts, Mr Imielski died at the scene.

Crash investigator Drew McDonnell said that there was no evidence to suggest that Mr Imielski was speeding at the time of the incident.

Assistant coroner Samantha Marsh said she believed that Mr Imielski had misjudged the situation when he attempted to overtake the Ocado van behind the Renault.

“It was a misjudgement on his part. When faced with the lorry he took action to go around it," she said.

“He did everything he could to prevent colliding with other road users and took the best course of action he could at that moment.”

Ms Marsh concluded that Mr Imielski’s death was the result of misadventure