An Oxfordshire schoolboy died of head injuries after his mother's car spun out of control on an icy morning, an inquest heard.

James Embury, ten, was being taken to Orchard Close School, Sibford Ferris, near Banbury, with his brother and sister when the accident took place on February 14.

James' mother, Karen Embury, lost control of her Mitsubishi Shogun on an unclassified road between Great Rollright and Hook Norton.

The car spun before going into a ditch and hitting a tree. James was sitting in the right rear passenger seat, close to where the bulk of the impact was absorbed.

Mrs Embury, of Long Compton, Warwickshire, said: "We were going down the hill and the car wobbled a bit as though it had touched some ice.

"The next thing I knew I had totally lost control of the car. It was skidding out of control. I remember shouting to the children: 'Hold on, hold on, it will be all right'. It happened so quickly."

Pc Andrew Cadd, of Bicester traffic police, said the road was susceptible to adverse weather conditions.

An off-duty fireman, Martin Wood, tried to revive James before the ambulance arrived.

Dr Steve Gould, consultant paediatric pathologist, based at the John Radcliffe Hospital, said James' skull was fractured.

Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner said: "This particular part of north Oxfordshire is notorious for patches of ice."

He recorded a verdict of accident death.