Hundreds of bikers at funeral of Didcot power station victim
Mick Collings died when the power station collapsed in February.
Hundreds of bikers have joined a demolition worker who was killed in the Didcot power station collapse on his final journey. Motorcycle clubs from around the country paid tribute to family man Mick Collings, 53, who died in the tragic accident at the power plant last month.
Members riding thundering Triumphs, Harley Davisons and Suzukis brought the roads around Kirkleatham Crematorium near Redcar to a standstill.
Some had copies of a photo of Mr Collings, smiling in his leathers, fixed to the windshield of their bikes. They had met close to Mr Collings's family home in Brotton, Cleveland, to follow the funeral cortege. His coffin was carried in a motorcycle sidecar.
The crematorium was full of family and friends who remembered the popular biker, with hundreds more bikers standing outside in the swirling rain.
Mr Collings, who left a widow, Lynn, was a devoted member of the Teesriders Motorcycle Club and helped organise bands for events.
Before the funeral, club chairman Joe Johnson said: It's a very, very sad day. I just wish we were riding out for a different reason rather than seeing Mick off on his last ride.
He was a really good guy, he was one of those blokes that everything he did was 110%.
Being a motorcyclist is dangerous, it's always in the back of your mind about having an accident.
Nobody goes to work thinking they are going to get killed, that's why this one is so different.
Whether he was killed in Didcot or on the road, he would have got the same send-off, because that's what sort of bloke he was.''
Club committee member Craig Ransom, also known as Chop, said: We are all devastated, he was a good friend, someone you would be proud to call a friend.
He is going to leave a massive hole in the club, but most of all he will leave a hole in Lynn's life.
This is something we always do for a biker funeral, to giver respect to that person.
It's an escort, a procession, it's their final ride so we all ride together.''
Demolition workers Ken Cresswell, 57, and, John Shaw, 61, both from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, and Chris Huxtable, from Swansea, remain missing following the power station collapse on February 23. Pictures:: Owen Humphreys/PA Wire