The inquest into the death of Great Britain speedway rider Lee Richardson is due to take place today.

The 33-year-old from St Leonards died after crashing during a race in Poland last May.

The father-of-three, affectionately known as Rico, was competing in a Polish League meeting when he crashed into a safety fence.

The Lakeside Hammers captain was taken to a hospital, suffering from internal bleeding, breathing difficulties and a leg injury, but died later.

At the time former BBC motorsport correspondent Suzi Perry led the tributes to a speedway racer,  described Hastings-born racer and former Eastbourne Eagle Lee Richardson as “a magnificent rider and lovely guy”.

The former world under-21 champion made his speedway debut with the Reading Racers in 1995 and in a long and distinguished career took part in 10 speedwayWorld Cups, becoming Team Great Britain’s record point-scorer.