A WYCOMBE taxi driver was killed instantly after his car was involved in a head-on collision with a white transit van on the A404, an inquest heard.

Mohammed Farooq Khan, 54, from Totteridge Drive, High Wycombe, suffered multiple injuries when his red Toyota Avenis was struck by the oncoming van at around 5.15am on Saturday, July 1.

The inquest at Amersham Magistrates' Court heard that Wahid Hussain, the driver of the van, and his friend Shakeel Ahmed, were delivering newspapers for WH Smith to shops in Amersham before the crash.

The incident happened as they were travelling around a left hand bend towards Amersham.

PC Stephen Moffat, from the Thames Valley Police collision investigation unit, said the evidence gathered at the scene of the crash suggested the white van had steered sharply to the right and hit Mr Khan's car on the driver's side.

Both Mr Hussain and Mr Ahmed had earlier told the inquest that they thought the Toyota had appeared completely on their side of the road.

Mr Ahmed said: "I normally tell Wahid if I see cars pulling out but this car came so suddenly I couldn't say anything.

"I closed my eyes. I remember thinking my life is over."

But PC Moffat said if Mr Khan had been on the wrong side of the road he reacted quickly enough to steer his car back onto the right side of the road in the time it took the van to only just cross the middle road lines.

He said: "We couldn't accuse the deceased in this case of being so unaware to allow himself to be entirely on the wrong side of the road and then still react quicker than the van.

"It's unlikely that the Toyota was ever entirely on the wrong side of the road."

Richard Hulett, Buckinghamshire coroner, said: "They said they were suddenly confronted with Mr Khan's taxi entirely on their side of the road. That may have been their honest opinion but I think it is wrong.

"Mr Hussain entirely misread the road in front of him - why he did that I cannot say. I suspect he thought there was a car in his lane and he has tried to move away from it but there has been a substantial collision.

"I think the family may take some comfort that his life expired almost immediately."

He recorded a verdict of accidental death.