A cyclist taking part in a charity bike ride to Oxford on an "extremely hot" summer's day collapsed and died while it took an ambulance nearly an hour to arrive, an inquest heard today.

Patrick Royle, 31, was nearing the end of the ride from Richmond Park, south west London, to Oxford, where his wife and young daughter were waiting, when he suffered heatstroke and came off his mountain bike in Fern Hill Road, Cowley.

He staggered to Hollow Way, then collapsed. Residents then raised the alarm.

A police officer, doctor and nurse who were passing went to his aid and a paramedic in a car arrived half an hour later but Mr Royle's condition deteriorated.

He suffered heart failure and attempts to resuscitate him were halted when an ambulance eventually arrived about 55 minutes after the 999 call.

The inquest was told that Mr Royle, an accounts manager from Raynes Park, in south-west London, may have survived if he had been taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Headington, sooner.

Mr Royle was taking part in the ride to raise money for a children's leukaemia charity with his brother-in-law, a work colleague and another man on July 2 last year, during a heatwave.

His father-in-law, David Inman, told the inquest in Oxford that Mr Royle, known as Paddy, had trained for the ride and was carrying plenty of water, glucose sweets and cereal bars when he set out.

The inquest was adjourned until a date to be fixed, so the coroner could hear more evidence.