A coroner has blamed excessive speed and drink-driving for a fatal crash that left two friends dead during birthday celebrations.

John Robson was marking his 18th birthday when Lee Craggs, 17, crashed his Citroen ZX Advantage at high speed.

He lost control and skidded, before hitting a wall then an wooden electricity pole six days before Christmas last year.

Police estimate he was driving at least 48mph in damp conditions through Anfield Plain, which has a speed limit of 30mph.

A Durham inquest heard Mr Craggs, of South View Gardens, Annfield Plain, was banned from driving by Consett Youth Court.

The car had passed motorist Nicola Clarke, who noticed it skidding around the corner before it passed her.

She recalls seeing blue sparks flying in her rear view mirror when it hit the electricity pole, leaving it cracked.

The accident happened at about 9.10pm on December 19 after the two pals met Matthew Carlion and Terry Longdon, both 20 from Stanley. A Durham inquest heard yesterday that both survivors were so drunk they could barely remember what happened.

Mr Longdon had been drinking in Durham before accepting a lift home from the trio.

He said: "It was the first time I had met John.

"I was in too much of a state to notice how bad anyone else was.

"I was having a bit of a talk with them. The next thing I know I was lying in the theatre in hospital."

Mr Longdon, who was sitting in the front, suffered a fractured pelvis and broken ribs in the crash.

Toxicology tests showed both Mr Craggs and Mr Robson had been drinking and traces of cannabis were found in their blood, although it is impossible to say whether they were under the influence of the drug.

Tests also revealed Mr Robson, of Coronation Terrace, New Kyo, near Stanley, had traces of MDMA and amphetamines in his system.

Mr Craggs died at the scene while Mr Robson was pronounced dead on arrival at University Hospital of North Durham.

North Durham Coroner Andrew Tweddle said: "It is clearly a most tragic set of circumstances, which will have indelibly affected the families concerned."