TWO men died after their car hit a tree near Ampfield at between 80 and 90 miles per hour, an inquest heard today (December 5).

The accident happened near the Potters Heron pub on the A3090 on the evening of Saturday, March 31.

Peter Morton, 20, from Potters Heron Close, Ampfield, and Robin Turpitt, 20, of Harrier Close, Southampton, died on impact, but their passenger, Gemma Witt, survived.

The inquest in Winchester heard from Miss Witt that on the evening of the tragedy the two men had picked her up from her Chandler's Ford home.

Mr Turpitt was driving his silver Honda Civic car as Mr Morton's car had engine problems.

Miss Witt said she had never met Mr Turpitt before that night.

She said the trio went for a drive and ended up at Pound Lane in Hursley where they did "shotties" in the car. This meant they inhaled cannabis fumes.

Miss Witt said Mr Turpitt and Mr Morton did two "shotties" each and the trio drove off again.

She said the mood in the car was jovial and she did not feel the driver had been unduly impaired by the cannabis he had inhaled.

However, she said Mr Morton kept flicking the songs over on the CD player and as a result Mr Turpitt decided to change the CD.

It was at this point that the car left the road and Miss Witt said she passed out.

When she came too she freed herself from her seat belt and got out of the car, she said, and flagged down an on-coming car for help before collapsing.

PC Anthony Johnson, of the Hampshire Constabulary Roads Investigation team, said evidence suggested that the Honda had been travelling between 80 and 90 mph, around 30 mph above the speed limit for the road.

A post mortem carried out at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester revealed that Mr Morton died of severe head injuries and Mr Turpitt died of multiple head, chest and abdominal injuries.

Dr Emmanuel Abu, a consultant in chemical pathology at Southampton General Hospital, told the inquest that Mr Turpitt had 134 microgramms of cannabis in his blood per litre and Mr Morton had 41.

He said he could not say for certain whether the cannabis levels in the blood could have impaired driving as there is no specific test.

However, he did say the higher the level of cannabis in the blood suggested a more prolonged use of the drug.

Deputy Assistant Coroner for central Hampshire, Christopher Campbell Wilkinson, said: "The fact the driver was inserting another CD at the time of the accident was synonymous with the vehicle losing control and leaving the road. I find that it is more likely than not that Robin was impaired in his abilities due to cannabis but the incident appears down to the fact the driver was being temporarily distracted."

Mr Wilkinson recorded a verdict of accidental death and extended his sympathies to the families involved.