A lawyer-led inquiry into the accident during the 2018 TT practices that left a rider seriously injured has been launched.

Rob Jones, a former chief executive of the Motor Sports Association, will head the inquiry into the accident which saw rider Stephen Mercer suffer serious injuries following a collision with a course car.

The car was on its way to investigate an accident at Churchtown, which claimed the life of the popular Manx rider Dan Kneen and had caused the evening’s practice session to be red flagged and susequently abandoned.

Mr Mercer was at the front of a group of riders returning to the pits against the normal course direction when his bike was in collision with the course car at Ballacrye.

A statement from the TT organisers ACU Events Ltd reads: ’The remit of the inquiry will be to investigate the events around the incident, identify the lessons to be learned and make recommendations on any issue around race organisation and safety matters for future events.’

The police are already investigating the incident.

Mr Mercer remains in hospital in Liverpool following the crash on May 30.

ACU Events chairman Brian Higgins, extended the organisation’s best wishes to Mr Mercer and his family and added: ’We feel it is vital the right lessons are not only learned but acted upon to ensure the highest possible safety standards at future events.

’The best way to achieve that is by an independent inquiry. We clearly need to respect investigations taking place by other authorities at this time, so at this stage we cannot comment further on the incident itself.’

ACU Events said Mr Jones would interview witnesses in the next few weeks and submit a report to them with recommendations.

Progress would be dictated by availability of witnesses but it hoped to have completed the process by later this summer.

Mr Mercer’s condition was initially described as ’stable but critical’.

More recently his wife, Caroline, said on Facebook he was stable and had undergone surgery to his leg. She thanked supporters and well-wishers who have so far contributed more than £19,800 to a Just Giving page for him.