A CYCLIST found lying in the road alongside his electric bike had three times the drink-drive limit of alcohol, it was revealed at an inquest.

Self-employed joiner Paul Mark Jones, 54, suffered “devastating” head injuries as he made his way home after spending the night in the Crown Inn in Pantymwyn, near Mold.

The father-of-two was found by taxi driver Sean Toner in Bwlch-y-Ddeufryn Road, Gwernaffield, at about 11.30pm on November 21 last year.

His passenger, James Rees, administered first-aid and Mr Jones was taken to the Maelor Hospital, Wrexham.

He was then transferred to the Royal Stoke University Hospital, but died five days later.

In a statement read at the Ruthin inquest by John Gittins, coroner for North Wales East and Central, Mr Jones’s ex-wife Jeanette Northall-Jones described him as a “workaholic and perfectionist” who was proud to have recently become a grandfather.

She said he had bought the electric bike in January last year but had not adapted it, so that its maximum speed was 15mph.

Mrs Northall-Jones said he always a helmet for longer rides but not always to visit the pub, which he often did after work.

Sasha White, licensee of the Crown, said that Mr Jones, of Cilcain Road, Gwernaffield, spent longer than usual in the pub that night, having arrived at 7.30pm, but she wasn’t sure how much he had to drink.

In addition to his usual Guinness he also had a gin before leaving, which was unusual.

Ms White suggested he might leave his bike there overnight, but he replied “I’ll be fine.”

Police investigations found no evidence of any other vehicle being involved.

Toxicology tests carried out two months after his death, by which time some degradation may have occurred, showed he had 236 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, the drink-drive limit being 80.

The coroner recorded a conclusion of accidental death.