A married couple in their 80s who died after their car crashed north of Norwich have been named today.

Ernest and Ellen Sneath, of Fakenham Road, Taverham, were travelling in Hall Lane, Drayton, when their Volkswagen Lupo was involved in a crash with a silver Volkswagen Passat.

Inquests into the death of Mr Sneath, 87, who was driving the car, and Mrs Sneath, 84, were opened and adjourned in Norwich today.

It heard a heart condition was the principal cause of Mr Sneath's death, while Mrs Sneath died as a result of the injuries she sustained in the crash.

Norfolk coroner William Armstrong said: 'The circumstances of their deaths are briefly on December 14, Mr Sneath was driving his car with his wife as a front-seat passenger on a semi-rural road.

'The car was approaching a left-hand bend when it was then in collision with a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction.

'Police and ambulance attended the scene. Mr Sneath was transferred to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (N&N). His condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead on December 15.

'Mrs Sneath was also taken to the N&N and she was pronounced dead on December 19.'

The coroner said of Mr Sneath: 'The principal cause of death was a heart condition although the injuries sustained in the collision had a contributory effect.'

The inquest heard Mr Sneath was born in Hackney, London, on May 1, 1925. He was a retired warehouse distribution worker.

Mrs Sneath was born in north London, on May 24, 1928, and was a retired bookbinder.