A FATHER-OF-SEVEN from Halliwell was killed in a head-on crash on a motorbike holiday in Morocco, a court was told.

Yunus Ahmed Musa had just been offered a new job at the Royal Bolton Hospital after a career change when tragedy struck in the African country.

Mr Musa, aged 56, who was born in India in 1958 but moved to Bolton in 1975, was a motorcycle enthusiast and was three days into a tour of Morocco with friends when the crash happened.

Bolton Coroners Court heard how a blue Rono Kongo car had lost control and swerved into the path of Mr Musa's bike at about 10am on September 9, 2014.

Mr Musa was knocked off his bike and suffered head, arm and leg injuries and was taken to a local hospital.

He was later transferred to University Hospital in Fes but his condition deteriorated suddenly according to friend Firoj Babaraya, who accompanied him in the ambulance, and he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital after resuscitation attempts failed.

Mr Musa, of Halliwell Road, who had formerly run a newsagents, started a new career in social care in 2009 and worked with Bolton Council before being offered a job at the hospital, which he was due to start at the end of last year.

He worked with autistic and disabled children and was "committed to helping those less fortunate than him", the court heard.

Iqbal Musa, his son, said: "He was a caring bloke and loved being with his family and friends.

"We are just all shocked at what has happened."

Mr Babaraya said: "He was a bubbly and funny bloke. He got on with everybody.

"He was younger that his actual age.

"I'm in my 30s and I got on with him better than most people my own age."

The court heard Mr Musa had been on several motorbike holidays before, with the group hoping to ride through the Atlas mountains.

The group hired BMW bikes after arriving at Marrakesh Airport on September 6.

A case file had been passed to the courts in Morocco, with the driver of the car involved saying that he had been forced to brake suddenly because a vehicle ahead had attempted to turn off the road without indicating.

A statement from the driver, read out in court, said the car had swerved to the right when he braked and that he "lost control".

Coroner Alan Walsh recorded a verdict of a road traffic collision and said: "I want to record the contribution that Mr Musa made to the people in Bolton and his commitment to those less fortunate than himself.

"It is a pity that he was not able to take up his position at the hospital, increasing the care to the wider community of the hospital.

"I find his death quite unbelievable and would have been unimaginable to his family and his friends who were with him.