A YOUNG motorist was killed when his car hit a kerb at speed and left the road, before somersaulting in the air and landing upside down on a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

The impact of the crash was so severe that the roof of John McLean's Nissan Almera was torn off, leaving the 20-year-old from Guisborough, east Cleveland, with fatal injuries.

Inside the ill-fated VW Polo his car struck were old friends Wendy McArdle, of Saltburn, who was paralysed in the crash, and Carol Rea, of Guisborough, who was left in a coma for two weeks.

Neither woman can remember the crash on the A171 dual carriageway but woke up in hospital a long time after the crash, which happened on September 18 last year.

Yesterday, deputy Teesside coroner Gordon Hetherington recorded a verdict of accidental death after witnesses helped piece together what happened.

Vauxhall Cavalier driver Dennis Hoggart was behind the VW Polo when he saw Mr McLean lose control of the car he had driven for the four months since he passed his driving test.

He said: "I was about to overtake when I saw the car flying through the air and I thought: 'My God, he's going to come down on top of me.'

"He landed on the car in front then came off, landing on its wheels, and headed towards me again before veering off and hitting a tree."

Other road users told how they saw Mr McLean veer across the road, first left then right as the cars passed a farm, before he appeared to hit the kerb that protects the central reservation.

Toxicology tests revealed alcohol equivalent to a pint of beer in Mr McLean's blood but his mother, Margaret, told the hearing he had stopped drinking completely because he was preparing to join the fire service and wanted to be in shape.

A pathologist conceded the alcohol could have been present due to fermentation occurring in the blood after the accident.

Deputy coroner Gordon Hetherington said: "It must be every driver's nightmare to be driving along a dual carriageway to see a car in difficulty heading directly towards you.

"This was tragic not just for the family of this young man, who died at such a young age, but also the occupants of the other vehicle who were so seriously injured.