A MOTORIST who was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit had been driving with just one hand due to a faulty ignition when his car clipped a kerb and careered through a hedge in Liddymore Lane, Doniford.

David Stevens, 23, of Whitecroft, Williton, suffered serious injuries to his face when parts of a wood and wire fence flew through the open window of his car on impact.

He died in Musgrove Park Hospital, in Taunton, several hours after the crash in the early hours of June 21.

West Somerset coroner Michael Rose recorded a verdict of accidental death at an inquest in Minehead last Thursday.

He said it appeared to be a "classic case of driving under the influence of alcohol" and said it was all the more tragic as Mr Stevens could easily have walked home rather than driven.

In the hours before the accident, Mr Stevens, who worked at the Haven holiday site in Doniford, had picked up some friends from a pub in Williton and returned to the camp to watch a show.

Mr Stevens had intended to stay at the camp overnight but had become upset when he saw fellow worker Michelle Bassett with another man.

Friend Laura Howells said Mr Stevens had an argument with Miss Bassett and she had told him to clear off.

She had hoped to get a lift home with Mr Stevens but he drove off and, concerned he had drunk too much, she persuaded friend and Haven chef Liam Greenslade to follow in his own car.

She told the inquest they could not see Mr Stevens' Audi car but said she did not think he had been driving particularly fast.

As they got to the railway bridge they saw Mr Stevens' car in the hedge and called the emergency services.

Miss Howells said she thought Mr Stevens had squeezed her hand twice while they waited for help to arrive.

Mr Greenslade described the lane by the railway bridge as "a chicane" due to a series of bends.

He said Mr Stevens had been driving quite slowly but confirmed he had seen him drink two or three pints of lager before getting behind the wheel.

Miss Bassett said she had taken Mr Stevens' car keys away from him but had left them on a table when she went to the toilet.

She denied she had argued with Mr Stevens and told the inquest: "It wasn't a row, I just told him to back off a little bit."

She ran to the scene of the crash after receiving a phone call from Miss Howells.

A vehicle examiner confirmed Mr Stevens' Audi had a faulty ignition and that the ignition key had to be held in the 'on' position physically or the engine would cut out.

Police accident investigator David Horsley said the fault meant Mr Stevens would have to drive without any hands on the steering wheel when he wanted to change gear.

"The Audi had been suffering from a problem with the ignition switch and the fault was known to Mr Stevens.

"The only way to keep the engine running was to keep the key physically turned and that could only be done at the expense of a degree of control of the vehicle.

"Because he only had one hand on the wheel, the negotiation of any acute bend would have been very difficult," Mr Horsley said.

He said the Audi appeared to have clipped a raised kerb underneath the railway bridge before leaving the road and crashing through a hedge into a field.

He said the driver's window had been down at the time of the crash and Mr Stevens had not been wearing a seatbelt.

"The driver suffered severe facial injuries caused by broken fencing coming through the driver's window and striking the driver in the face," he said.

Mr Rose gave the medical cause of death as massive facial injuries.

He said: "What happened here is quite clear. I don't want to go into personal relationships, he may have been told by a girl he was not wanted, but he decided to go home.

"Somehow, something entered the driving compartment. I think it was wood and his face hit it.

"I can't ignore the drink-driving level was two and a half times the limit.

"The tragedy is that, having decided to go home, a man of that age could easily have walked from Doniford to Williton but you can't turn back the clock."