Damien Ryan, 31, had been drinking with friends in pubs in Longridge before taking pal Oliver Catterall's pale blue Ford Focus.

An inquest at Preston Coroner's Court on Monday heard Mr Ryan, who was three times over the drink-drive limit and had taken cocaine, first crashed into a black Ford Focus on Preston New Road, Grimsargh, at around 7pm on August 30.

Minutes later, his vehicle was seen on its side in a hedge but managed to right itself.

At just before 7.20pm, Mr Ryan, of St Mary's Road, Bamber Bridge, careered on to the opposite side of the road and hit a Subaru Impreza head-on and flipped "several times".

Mr Ryan, a timber worker and Liverpool FC fan, had not been wearing a seatbelt and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The court was told how traces of cocaine were found in his bloodstream.

The driver of the Subaru, 38-year-old Stewart Thomson, from Fulwood, Preston, suffered serious leg, wrist, chest and hip injuries.

He remains in Royal Preston Hospital almost six months on.

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The court was also told how Mr Ryan had earlier crashed into a black Ford Focus on Preston New Road at around 7pm.

Driver Malcolm Eckton followed the car to try to exchange insurance details, but the blue Focus "sped off."

He caught up close to Ann Forshaw's Dairy, in Alston, where the car had turned on to its side in a hedge.

But the car managed to right itself and set off again "blindingly fast".

Mr Eckton, from Longridge, was questioned on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving but later released without charge.

A post mortem by pathologist Dr Jane Edwards showed Mr Ryan died of multiple injuries.

Deputy coroner Simon Jones recorded a verdict of accidental death.

For more on this story see Tuesday's Lancashire Evening Post

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