Police probing the death of a motorcyclist have denied claims of a cover-up in their investigation.

Gas fitter Maxwell Foster, of Brymore Road, Canterbury, was killed instantly when he crashed into the central reservation of a dual carriageway.

An inquest was told the 44-year-old was almost triple the drink- drive limit and speeding at the time of the accident.

However, the hearing had to be adjourned after his family complained to the coroner of “inconsistencies” in the police investigation.

They are demanding to know why an off-duty police officer who witnessed Mr Foster’s riding and gave evidence was not breathalysed like other parties involved.

The tragedy happened on the Hengist Way dual carriageway near the Lord of the Manor roundabout just outside Ramsgate on June 14.

“I then heard a screeching and looked over my shoulder and saw a motorbike go into the central reservation. It made no contact with my car” - Driver Peter Gallagher

Mr Foster was seen riding his Kawasaki 1,000cc bike towards Ramsgate from Sandwich by off-duty policeman Grishka Winter, who was driving home from work in his own car.

He told the inquest that Mr Foster’s riding was “erratic” and that he was drifting from lane to lane and repeatedly slowing down and speeding up.

He said he became concerned about the biker’s behaviour when Mr Foster came up very close behind his car and then pulled alongside him, revving his engine.

Mr Winter said the rider went around a roundabout and then came past him again “at great speed”. He saw a car ahead of him moving into the outside lane and then a shower of sparks.

That vehicle was a VW Golf driven by Peter Gallagher, who did not attend the hearing, despite being summonsed to do so.

In his statement, read by assistant coroner James Dillon, he described checking in his mirrors and not seeing anything before beginning to manoeuvre into the outside lane.

He said: “I then heard a screeching and looked over my shoulder and saw a motorbike go into the central reservation. It made no contact with my car.”

The inquest heard that Mr Gallagher passed a breath test at the scene and an examination of his vehicle confirmed there had been no contact.

Toxicology tests revealed Mr Foster had 216mg of alcohol in 100ml of his blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

A crash investigator said he believed Mr Foster’s front wheel had hit the kerb of the central reservation and the rider had struck a post, killing him instantly.

His speed before the collision was calculated at between 70mph and 86mph. The limit is 50mph.

Although Mr Winter was a witness to the incident and helped at the scene, he was not breathalysed because officers concluded he was not involved in the accident, which Mr Foster’s family claimed was inconsistent.

Insp Martin Stevens, who oversaw the accident investigation and met the family prior to the hearing, told the coroner he had arranged for Mr Winter’s car to be examined the day after the incident to confirm there had been no contact prior to the fatal collision and nothing was found.

He denied any suggestions by the family of a cover-up and said the investigation had been “objective and transparent”.

But the coroner adjourned the inquest so the officer in charge of the accident scene on the night could give evidence and another attempt could be made to summons Mr Gallagher to attend.