ARMY sergeant Geoffrey Towler was killed when he came off his bike in a high-speed head-on collision with a lorry on the A350 between Westbury and Yarnbrook.

At an inquest in Chippenham on Wednesday, July 24, the court heard how Sgt Towler, 32, of the 2nd Royal Anglia Regiment, based near Warminster, died from multiple injuries after the accident on February 15.

Sgt Towler, from Chepstow, was returning home on his Kawasaki motorbike in the afternoon. He had been to an advanced mortar-training course in Warminster.

He was tailgating an ambulance, which had its sirens on in response to an emergency call.

A red car, in front of the ambulance, pulled over to the nearside to get out of the way.

But, with oncoming traffic, there was not enough space for the ambulance to pass.

Ambulance driver, Susan Hankey, braked, bringing the ambulance to a halt.

Sgt Towler could not brake in time, swerved in to the oncoming traffic and the front of a Volvo lorry.

Driver, Neil Izzard, was in a convoy of vehicles behind Sgt Towler's bike.

Mr Izzard said: "Because of the speed he was travelling, he tried to go round the ambulance and squeeze in between the vehicles but he had nowhere to go.

"I saw the brake lights on the motorcycle turn on, and there was smoke from the tyres and a wobble, as he changed down the gears."

He said Sgt Towler was catapulted into the front grill of the lorry cab, ending up in the middle of the road.

Traffic officer, PC Steve Cox, of Westbury Traffic, investigated the accident.

He said it appeared the motorcycle reared up on its back tyre, bumped against the side of the ambulance, and was dragged down the nearside of the lorry.

He estimated Sgt Towler would have been travelling at between 67mph and 69mph.

He said that because Sgt Towler was so close to the ambulance he could not see the approaching Volvo lorry.

PC Cox said there was nothing lorry driver Mark Lloyd could do to get out of the way.

Wiltshire coroner David Masters recorded a verdict of accidental death.