A 21-year-old, who was killed when his car careered into a tree beside the A33 at Micheldever, may have been driving at almost 100mph.

A Winchester inquest heard how Benjamin Waterman, from East Stratton, had a reputation for driving too fast.

He had just overtaken a car on the old Roman road and died instantly when his Ford Escort XR3i smashed roof-first into the tree at 6.30am on August 5th last year.

As he approached the junction with the Winchester Road, he swerved to avoid another car but lost control. One witness described how he saw the car swing sideways and tilt onto its side just at the point it hit the tree.

Crash investigator, Stanley Gibbs, described the wrecked car as having suffered "colossal distortion", with the floorpan of the vehicle forming a banana shape around the trunk of the tree.

He added that witness evidence and the almost-complete destruction of the car suggested that he had been doing in excess of 90mph and possibly as much as 100mph.

Returning a verdict of accidental death, coroner, Simon Burge, said: "This was a tragedy but, I have to say, one which was not entirely unexpected.

"There are a number of statements which suggest that Benjamin was a driver who regularly drove at high speeds and that he had been warned by friends about the dangers of driving so quickly."

After the hearing, Sergeant Paul Owens, of the Hampshire Roads Policing Unit, added: "It was well-known among Ben's friends that he drove very fast.

"I can only reiterate what the coroner said - that had he been obeying the speed limit, this collision may not have occurred."

A spokesman for the family said: "I would like to emphasise that others can learn a valuable lesson from this tragedy. He was going so stupidly fast - people should take note of what happens if you crash at that speed."