A woman died when she was hit by a car after being ejected from an Oxford pub following a Christmas shopping trip.

Sarah Parker, 51, had been refused another drink and escorted to the door by staff at The Jolly Farmers, in Paradise Street, because of her unruly and abusive behaviour, an inquest heard.

Recording an open verdict on June 19, Deputy Oxfordshire Coroner Dorothy Flood said there were discrepancies in the accounts of how Mrs Parker came to be in the road, after her exit from the pub on November 25.

Mrs Parker, of Weald Street, Bampton, was hit by a Hyundai Matrix people-carrier being driven by Michael Thompson, of Meadow Way, Yarnton. She suffered injuries to her chest and a fractured skull, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Post mortem tests revealed her blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal driving limit.

Police said Mr Thompson was driving at about 20mph and would not have been able to stop in time. He was cleared of any wrong doing by police.

Mr Thompson said: "All I can recall is a body-shaped object being hurled out of the doorway into my path."

The pub's former bar manager, David Hill, and an off-duty barman, Andrew Warren, both of Anne Greenwood Close, Iffley, Oxford, were arrested but later released without charge.

Mr Warren said that after refusing to continue serving Mrs Parker he asked her to leave.

He and Mr Hill escorted her to the door and stood in the inner doorway of the lobby, blocking her return.

Mr Warren, who still works at the pub, said: "She was pushing against me and was confused and abusive, then stepped backwards and fell out of the doorway. I think she lost her footing.

"I think she fell into the road the second before the car was there." Other witnesses to Mrs Parker's ejection from the pub described it as "very physical" and that she was "propelled out of the door."

Summing up, Mrs Flood said she could not justify verdicts of either unlawful killing or accidental death because of the discrepancies.

She said: "An open verdict reflects the other contributory factors and ambiguity of evidence."