Academic dies after bike collides with lorry

A leading academic has died after his motorcycle collided with a lorry as he travelled to work in central London.

Scores of tributes to Dr Charles Lockwood, 37, have been posted on the internet since his death a week yesterday.

Police today appealed for witnesses to the crash at 8.50am in Guildford Street, at the junction with Gray's Inn Road.

Dr Lockwood, known to friends as Charlie, was a highly- respected paleoanthropologist, combining paleontology and physical anthropology.

He lectured at University College London as part of its anthropology department and also published a number of books and papers on paleoanthropology.

An internet blog created by his family said: "For as much as we loved our son and brother, it is very reassuring to know how much he was loved and cared about by so many others."

American-born Dr Lockwood had worked at UCL since 2003 and was due to move to South Africa for a three-year secondment as first director at the Institute of Human Evolution.

His funeral will take place on Thursday at Mortlake Crematorium.

The male driver of the lorry, who is in his fifties, was arrested in connection with the crash and has been bailed.