A man who died after his car crashed near Tring was more than twice the legal drink-drive limit and was not wearing a seatbelt, an inquest into his death heard this week.

Lee Stanford from Chesham, sadly died at the scene after his car, a black Hyundai Tucson, crashed off the road in Cholesbury Lane and flipped over on its side, throwing Mr Stanford from the car, on June 4 this year.

A toxicology report found Mr Stanford's blood alcohol level was 218mg/100ml – the drink-drive limit is 80mg/100ml.

He was also not found to be wearing a seatbelt, causing him to be thrown from the car, and was thought to have self-harmed in the past as cuts were found on his wrist during the post-mortem.

Dr Marnerides, who did the toxicology and post-mortem report, said there was also evidence of Mr Stanford having had a “recent” mild heart attack, but it could not be ascertained as to how recent it was.

He said: “It could have caused him to lose control of the car, and that was exacerbated by alcohol intoxication.

“The heart problem and alcohol intoxication caused the collision. They didn’t contribute to it – they caused it.”

Witnesses Andrew and Nicholas Tingey were driving along Cholesbury Lane when they spotted Mr Stanford’s headlights on the side of the road.

Nicholas said: “I was travelling as a front seat passenger with my dad Andrew towards home.

“The weather had been dry but by this time there was a fine drizzle.

“As we got to Cholesbury Common, the road forked. We had taken the right-hand fork and as we were pulling out of the junction, I noticed a bright light coming from the right of me.

“As we got closer to it I saw the light was from a car lying on its side.”

Nicholas went up to the car and noticed Mr Stanford was lying between the car and the road. He said he tried to talk to him, but Mr Stanford did not respond.

He was still breathing and his breathing was “laboured”, and Nicholas could hear “gargling” coming from Mr Stanford as he breathed.

A number of other passers-by then stopped to help, and emergency services arrived just after 9.45pm – around 20 minutes after they were called.

Mr Stanford was pronounced dead at 10.29pm after he failed to respond to 20 minutes of advanced life support by paramedics.

Collision investigator Stephen Moffat said if Mr Stanford had been wearing his seatbelt, the outcome of the crash could have been different as he would not have been “violently” thrown from the car and “crushed”.

He said it was possible Mr Stanford was also speeding, saying: “The fact that he could have had the collision at 40mph [the road’s speed limit] doesn’t quite fit in.

“It was possibly exacerbated by incalculable but excess speeding.

“[The crash] could not have reasonably occurred at 40mph.”

Senior coroner for Buckinghamshire Crispin Butler concluded Mr Stanford died as a result of an RTC (road traffic collision).

Soon after the crash, Mr Stanford’s family paid tribute to him, saying: “Our warm, caring, loyal and loving son, brother, partner, uncle and friend.

“Always a big smile on your cheeky face, you were loved by everyone who met you.

“You had an infectious passion for so many things.

“You were just starting a new chapter in your life and the best was yet to come.

“Love you and miss you always, your loving family.”