A MAN died after he lost control of his van and crashed off road, an inquest heard.

Lee Ian Garbett, from Shildon, County Durham, was travelling along the A68, near Swinburne, on April 18 this year when his van swerved off the road and rolled down a grass verge.

Emergency services, including the Great North Air Ambulance Service, were called but he was pronounced dead at the scene at 2.47pm.

The 47-year-old, who worked as a metal worker in Inverness, Scotland, was travelling back home to County Durham.

At an inquest in North Shields on Tuesday, South Northumberland Coroner, Eric Armstrong, recorded a verdict of death by road traffic collision.

A statement from William Lawson, an HGV driver, said he saw a white Vauxhall Astra van overtake him before it continued to drive on the opposite side of the road, swerving repeatedly as it travelled south.

He later came across the van, near to the entrance of Barrasford Quarry, on its side, down a grass verge.

The inquest heard Andrew Bodfield, an off-duty paramedic, arrived at the scene and discovered that Mr Garbett was not wearing a seat belt, and there was no window on the driver’s side of the van.

PC Russell Blenkinsop, part of the Northumbria Police collision investigation unit, said a number of mechanical faults with the van were discovered, meaning it would have failed an MOT test.

“It cannot be ruled out that mechanical faults influenced this collision,” he said.

“The maximum speed the van could have been travelling at was 48mph, and it is my considered opinion that the cause of this collision is loss of control of the van due to excess speed.”

There was no evidence to suggest any other vehicles or people were involved, and road conditions were dry.

A toxicology report found Mr Garbett had 174 milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 80. He also had traces of cocaine in his system.

A post mortem examination found the cause of death was severe head and brain injuries consistent with a road traffic collision.

Coroner Eric Armstrong said: “I cannot rule out the probability that the state of the vehicle may have been a factor on why the vehicle lost control.

“It is my belief that had he been wearing a seatbelt he would still be here today. Seatbelts save lives.”