Partner’s “no black” plea for biker’s funeral

Karen Crane said that funeral service for the late British Superbike and TT rider, who died earlier this month, would be held today at 11am at Howden Minster.

She added in a Twitter message: “Everyone is welcome and please come in team gear if you can — no black suits if it can be helped.”

Karl, who used to live in Aston, died in a crash while racing on the Isle of Man on June 3.

Known as Bomber Harris, the 34-year-old was described by clerk of the TT course Gary Thompson as “one of the great characters in the race paddock”.

An inquest on the bike racer was opened and adjourned at Isle of Man Coroner’s Court last Wednesday.

A preliminary postmortem report gave the cause of death as “multiple injuries from a high-speed collision”.