A motorist died as a result of serious injuries he sustained when his car left a road in heavy rain in west Norfolk, an inquest has heard.

Jonathan Hoey, from Sutton St James, in Lincolnshire, died on September 23 last year after being involved in a single vehicle collision on the A148 near Congham.

Simon Milburn, assistant coroner for Norfolk, resumed the inquest into the 50-year-old's death on Friday, March 26, at Norfolk Coroners Court.

M Hoey, a caravan dealer, was driving a green Ford Mustang with one passenger in the car.

Motorists who saw Mr Hoey's car prior to and at the time of the accident described poor driving conditions and freestanding water.

The inquest heard Mr Hoey had moved out to overtake a vehicle in front of him but lost control of his car, resulting in the vehicle going over a verge into woodland.

The Ford Mustang hit several trees before coming to a stop, with one of the trees it had collided with landing over the front of the car.

A police report said there was no evidence Mr Hoey was under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or using his mobile phone at the time of his death.

The 50-year-old suffered serious injuries to his head and upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene 30 minutes later.

Witnesses helped the passenger out of the car and pulled an unresponsive Mr Hoey from the vehicle before the car caught fire.

Mr Milburn said it was likely cause of the collision was as a result of excessive accelerating or steering which was exacerbated by weather and poor weather conditions.

Mr Milburn said: "At the time road conditions were wet and it was raining heavily. I think it is important to record that. He lost control of the vehicle he was driving as he attempted to overtake a vehicle travelling in the same direction.

"The vehicle left the road to its offside, travelling over an embankment into woodland and struck a number of trees. Mr Hoey suffered serious injures and died at the scene."

Mr Milburn gave his conclusion that Mr Hoey's death was due to a road traffic collision.

The assistant coroner expressed his condolences to Mr Hoey's family for their loss and the passenger within the car was recovering as fully as possible.