A CAR drifting over the central white line into the opposite carriageway resulted in a fatal crash on the A49, an inquest heard.

Dad-of-one, Joseph Mayers, 36, died on November 19 last year in King's Thorn on the stretch of road between the A466 turning and Much Birch, after the car he was driving collided with a lorry at around 11am.

An inquest at Herefordshire Coroner's Court heard from witness, Benjamin Fleming, who was travelling behind Mr Mayers' Renault Clio as he drove towards Hereford.

He said he saw Mr Mayers' car drift over the white line to the other side of the single carriageway, where a lorry was travelling towards him.

Mr Fleming said Mr Mayers' then drove back to his side, but then drifted over the white line again and the lorry driver, Simon Hawkes, was forced to move to the other side of the road to try and avoid hitting him.

Mr Fleming said Mr Mayers's car then started to move back to the correct lane and he collided with the lorry which then fell partially down a steep bank.

Mr Mayers died at the scene.

The inquest heard Mr Hawkes was on a call on his hands-free device at the time of the accident but he said this did not affect his reaction time.

A post mortem revealed Mr Mayers died from multiple traumatic injuries, including a severe head injury, as a result of a road traffic collision and the pathologist noted multiple drug use.

A toxicology report listed that he had six drugs in his system- some levels of which were significant while others were therapeutic levels, but the inquest heard the combined effects were likely to be significant to the accident.

In a statement read to court his dad, Christopher, said Mr Mayers had started taking hard drugs when he was a teenager but through hard work and commitment had come off them to bring up his young son, Cameron.

He said his son ran drug and alcohol clinics in Hereford as he wanted to help others, but this came to an end when the funding stopped for the organisation.

He said he then discovered his son had started taking drugs again and he had provided a home in a caravan for him on land at Ridgehill, while he looked after his grandson.

In a statement from Joseph Mayers' partner, Eleanor Boulton, she said they had started to argue more and he had started to take drugs again.

On the morning of the fatal crash, police attended an abandoned Vauxhall car near to Twyford Common at around 5.38am and Ms Boulter was found nearby and arrested for drink-driving. She said Mr Mayers had been driving the car but after an area search around his home, police could not find him and the only evidence provided was from the co-accused so the search was called off at 10am.

Coroner Mark Bricknell said that the evidence of the pathologist is that intoxicants within his body did have a significant effect and on the balance of probability is likely to be the cause for him driving erratically.

He recorded that Mr Mayers died as a result of a road traffic collision.