Highway to heaven for bikers

Those wanting to cut a dash en route to their final resting place can now do so thanks to a motortrike hearse service being launched by a businesswoman.

Mother-of-three Julie Gibbings’ glittering 12-foot-long motortrike will tow a £10,000 custom made black two-wheeled hearse, which can be hooked up for funerals.

The 44-year-old, whose working outfit is black leathers, black crash helmet and sunglasses, dreamed up the service as part of her Trike-An-Occasion business.

She said today: “The bike and hearse will be 24-feet-long when hooked up together, and I will take a funeral director with me as a passenger.

“I have spoken to a number of funeral directors about the service and they really like it.

“People want something different, and although it will appeal to bikers, I hope other people will like it as well,” she said from her home at Withleigh, near Tiverton, Devon.

She is going to officially launch the service at the three day Paignton Bike Festival which starts in the south Devon resort on Friday, and is awaiting her first funeral booking.

She said she had never ridden a bike before buying the six-foot-wide motortrike on a whim three years ago, and developed a business offering a special mode of transport.

The two-passenger motortrike can be hired for rides to proms, champagne picnics – and even weddings.