THE reason why a car swerved violently and plummeted 50ft into a swollen river, killing an elderly couple, will remain a mystery, a coroner said.

Harold Douglas Elkins, 88, known as Doug, and his 68-year-old wife, Sheila, died when their Nissan Micra left the road in Swaledale and crashed into the river Swale, near Marske Bridge, on October 6 last year.

Mr Elkins had been driving his wife from their home in Whitcliffe Grange, Richmond, to Reeth, where she was a relief warden at the Quaker Close sheltered housing complex.

An inquest today at Richmond Town Hall heard that neither was wearing a seat belt and that a post mortem showed that they both drowned.

Traffic Constable Steve Kirkbright, who investigated the crash, said the car had no defects and was not speeding.

Geoff Fell, coroner for North Yorkshire West, recorded a verdict of accidental death.