A MOTHER has pleaded for young drivers to think before getting into a car when they have been drinking after hearing the tragic details of her son’s death.

An inquest heard that friends Grant Benson and Nick Davidson had been drinking in the hours before the car they were travelling in crashed into a tree near Barnard Castle and burst into flames.

The pair had been out in town on Friday, August 15 and had safely taken a taxi home when for some unknown reason Mr Benson, 21, drove his Audi A4 towards Darlington and crashed within ten minutes on Westwick Road, between Barnard Castle and Whorlton, at about 3am.

Mr Davidson’s mother, Anita Thompson, said the family had been left heartbroken by the tragedy and urged young drivers “to take more responsibility for their choices and actions when they get into a car”.

At Crook Coroner’s Court on Wednesday, coroner, Andrew Tweddle, heard how the car had been travelling on the unlit 60mph limit road when Mr Benson braked hard and although the police could not calculate his speed, it was estimated it could have been as much as 80mph.

Extensive damage meant police were unable to identify whether seatbelts were worn, but the car was judged to have been in good working order.

A post-mortem revealed Mr Davidson, 27, of Middleton-in-Teesdale, died from traumatic injuries related to the accident, while Mr Benson, of Bartlemere, Barnard Castle, died from the immediate effects of the fire that followed.

Pathologist, Dr Paul Barrett said the level of alcohol found in 100ml of Mr Davidson’s blood was 164 milligrammes (mg) and 122mg was found in Mr Benson’s blood. The legal limit is 80mg.

The inquest heard when Mr Benson dialled 999, just before 3am, his call was misdirected to the Yorkshire Ambulance Service and it took seven minutes for an ambulance to be dispatched.

The nearest crew at the time was based in Richmond with an estimated arrival time of 28 minutes.

However, senior investigation officer, Sergeant Andy Sutherland, from Durham Police, said even if a local crew had been informed at the start it would not have got there in time to save the men’s lives.

Mr Tweddle recorded a verdict of accidental death as a result of a road traffic collision and also raised concerns about ambulance service procedures.

After the verdict, Mrs Thompson said: “The last seven months have been painful and heartbreaking for both families.

“If anything at all positive can be learnt from this terrible tragedy it would be that drivers, especially young drivers, take more responsibility for their choices and actions when they get into a car because the consequences of their actions can often take lives and shatter families.”