THE parents of a footballer who died in a car crash say they have been left with many unanswered questions.

Hartlepool United midfielder Michael Maidens, of Skelton, east Cleveland, died when the car he was travelling in on the A174, near Lazenby, east Cleveland, hit a lamp-post at about 8.25pm on October 19, 2007.

After an inquest at Teesside Coroner’s Court yesterday failed to establish an exact cause of the crash, Mr Maidens’ parents, Douglas and Heather, said they were devastated to know they will never fully understand what happened.

Mrs Maidens said: “I take comfort that he died instantly, so he did not suffer, but at the end of the day, we have received no real answers as to why and how the accident happened.”

The inquest heard how Mr Maidens, 20, had been a frontseat passenger in a silver Vauxhall Corsa driven by Robert Kell, of Marske, east Cleveland, when the accident happened. They were among five cars on their way to Yarm.

Mr Kell said he felt a thud before the back of his car shot out to the left. The car slid sideways across two lanes before it mounted the pavement and hit the lamp-post.

Witnesses said conditions were good and no one appeared to be speeding.

Police investigator Derrick Walton said mechanical problems may have contributed to the accident, and said a set of springs fitted to the car that day to raise the suspension were upside down.

However, he said that may not have been a factor because it failed to match how the car lost control. He said the driver trying to regain control could also have contributed, but again there was no evidence to suggest that had happened.

Mr Walton said: “It is an unusual set of circumstances for a vehicle to step back from the left. It is completely out of the ordinary.”

Timothy Gibson, of the Transport Research Laboratory, said that wrongly fitted springs could cause more understeer, but that it should swing to the right not left.

Coroner Michael Sheffield recorded a verdict of accidental death.

Mr Maidens said: “This all seems to have gone on so long, but now that is it. There is nothing more we can do, but he will never be forgotten.”