A FATHER-OF-THREE who died in a car accident was nearly three times over the legal drink drive limit, an inquest heard.

Darren Edwards, from Willington, County Durham, suffered fatal head injuries when his silver Citroen C2 left the road and hit a wall on the A690 at Crook, in the early hours of January 18.

The 35-year-old leaves three young daughters, Chloe, Paige and Freya, together with fiancée, Tanya Palliser.

Assistant coroner Oliver Longstaff heard Mr Edwards had been out with friends in the town and had drunk around ten pints and a vodka coke.

A post mortem found he had 233mg per ml of alcohol in his system. The legal limit to drive is 80mg.

Investigating officer, Sergeant Kevin Salter, said Mr Edwards had picked two friends up before parking up and enjoying a normal night out.

He said that Mr Edwards became separated from the group around midnight and left the Kings Head at about 12.30am and CCTV showed him driving off in his car.

Witnesses in a Nissan Micra, which Mr Edwards was following, called police as they were concerned he was a drink driver.

“They pulled over to allow him to pass and were reporting him as a drink driver at the time," said Sgt Salter. "They were still on the phone to the police when they came round the corner and saw the collision.”

Collision investigator, PC Paul Hardwick said it was minus 4 degrees celcius that night but road conditions were good as Mr Edwards hit a curb on a bend near Cochrane Terrace.

The car skidded sideways, hit a telegraph pole then an eight-foot wall causing “catastrophic damage” to the passenger side.

He added witnesses reported the windscreen appeared frozen and there was no sign Mr Edwards was wearing a seat belt.

Mr Longstaff said: “He was unfit to drive and it’s unfortunate that he lost his friends – if he had stayed with them he might have been dissuaded from driving.”

He concluded Mr Edwards died as a result of a road traffic collision.