ONE of the UK's leading wine merchants died when his car smashed into a Hampshire telegraph pole, an inquest heard.

Thierry Cabanne lost control of his Renault Laguna along Winchester Road, near Little Somborne, near Winchester.

Mr Cabanne, 62, of Hoplands Estate, King's Somborne, was the man behind Romsey-based Thierry's Wine Services, one of the country's leading wine brokers, with an annual turnover of £80m.

Last month it was revealed Mr Cabanne, who was divorced, left an estate worth more than £4m. He is survived by two sisters, one in France and one in Belgium.

An inquest in Winchester yesterday heard that he was returning from a meeting in London in the early hours of September 13 last year when the fatal crash happened.

He made a slight misjudgment causing the car to mount the verge as he took a right-hand bend. He over-corrected, sending his car spinning into a telegraph post. He died instantly.

His vehicle was found at 2am by PC Claire McGrath, who was called to a nearby property to investigate a burglar alarm.

It was later concluded that the alarm was triggered by Mr Cabanne's vehicle hitting the pole.

Giving evidence, PC McGrath said: "As we went down the road we saw some brake lights on the left side of the road. We saw the vehicle had been in a serious accident.

"I could see he had a serious head injury but there was no response."

Recording a verdict of accidental death, assistant deputy central Hampshire coroner Christopher Wilkinson said the crash had "more likely than not" been caused by a distraction or a minor loss of concentration.

Mr Cabanne had not been speeding and was well within the drink-drive limit.

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Cabanne's friend and accountant, Gillian Gamblin, said: "It's a really sad loss. He was a truly remarkable, unique person, very kind and very thoughtful.

"He cared a lot about the people who worked for him.

"He was not money-orientated and he called us his family. To the day he died that's how he thought of us."

Mr Cabanne, who was born in Angers, France, moved to England in the 1960s and opened a restaurant in London's Kings Road.

But after growing tired of the city life he followed his father into the wine trade. He sold his restaurant in 1989 and set up Thierry's Wine Services in 1981.