A 26-year-old man who was killed after his car crashed into a tree in a quiet south Bucks village last year died of severe head injuries, an inquest heard today.

Lee Elston’s blue Subaru Impreza crashed into a tree in Nightingales Lane, Chalfont St Giles, at around 6.35am on September 16.

The Little Chalfont resident was the only person in the vehicle and sadly died at the scene.

Giving evidence, PC Adrian White said it was “not likely” that Mr Elston was wearing a seatbelt due to its positioning when police looked at the vehicle, and believed that he had taken a bend too fast and lost control of the car.

He added that even if Mr Elston had been wearing his seatbelt, his injuries would still have been fatal due to the sideways impact of the crash.

Eyewitness David Markham, who arrived at the scene after the crash happened, said in a statement that the Subaru was behind him at a traffic light and “zoomed” past him, overtaking his car once the lights had turned green.

He said: “The vehicle nearly hit the bollards as it moved back in. It made off at speed. One minute it was there and the next it had disappeared.

“As I came around the bend [on to Nightingales Lane], I was around 50 yards away from the Subaru.

“The car was on the nearside kerb, it was against some trees and the front had gone through a fence.”

Mr Markham went over to help Mr Elston but could not get into the driver’s side as it was “wedged” sideways against a tree. He called 999 for help.

He then flagged down another vehicle, whose driver, described by Mr Markham as an Asian man, flagged down the car behind him and together, they managed to get into Mr Elston’s car by smashing the back windows with a metal object.

Mr Markham described Nightingales Lane as a “winding, narrow road with bends”, adding it “goes up and down” and saying he was “always very careful” when he was driving on it.

PC White said the road conditions were safe and while it was dark, Mr Elston’s headlights had been turned on, so lighting was not a contributing factor and neither was the weather.

He said: “It is fair to say that Mr Elston would have lost control [of the car] by then [before he reached the trees].

“His face was heavily bloodstained and he had sustained a very obvious head injury.

“It is my opinion that he was travelling too fast around the initial bend.”

A toxicology report did not find any traces of alcohol in Mr Elston’s body and the medical cause of death was recorded as a severe head injury as a result of the crash.

Senior coroner for Buckinghamshire Crispin Butler recorded a verdict of death by road traffic accident.