The family of a man killed when a car went into a tree will never know why the driver lost control.

John Coleman, 44, a window cleaner from Wimborn Close, Deddington, died on Friday, September 22 last year when he was travelling into the village with friend Steven Williams.

An inquest at Old County Hall, Oxford, heard yesterday that Mr Williams was at the wheel when the incident happened on a stretch of the A4260 Oxford Road, less than half a mile from Deddington.

The red Ford Mondeo mounted the verge on the opposite side of the road. The car travelled sideways for several metres before spinning round and smashing into a tree.

Mr Coleman was killed instantly. The post mortem revealed he suffered serious injuries to his spinal cord.

Meanwhile, Mr Williams was rushed to hospital where his situation was initially described as "grave" by doctors.

Police had wanted to take blood and urine samples to see whether he had been drinking or taking drugs. But they were unable to because he needed an urgent blood transfusion.

The inquest heard Mr Williams had no recollection of the accident or why he lost control of the car.

Pc Baldwin, a collision investigator from Bicester police station, told the court there were no marks on the road to indicate why the driver lost control.

He did not think there were any problems with the road, but said extra care and attention should have been taken because of light rain earlier in the day.

He said: "I can see no reason why he didn't steer appropriately. Something caused him to do this."

The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure.