A coroner has ruled it is impossible to know what happened in the moments leading up to a fatal crash in which a van collided with a lorry.

Danny Humphrey, 37, died on the A28 Great Chart Bypass in Ashford when his white Mercedes van veered onto the wrong side of the road.

An inquest held at Oakwood House in Maidstone yesterday heard that Mr Humphrey had been travelling on the single carriageway towards Tenterden shortly before 11am on October 23.

While attempting to negotiate the corner, his vehicle went onto the opposite lane, where it collided with an oncoming DAF lorry.

Coroner Ian Brownhill said the reason for this crash “cannot be established on the balance of probabilities” as no vehicle defects or issues with the road surface were identified.

The weather had been a clear, dry day with good visibility.

Mr Humphrey’s cause of death was given as multiple injuries and the coroner gave the conclusion of a road traffic collision.

Emergency services were called to the stretch between the Matalan and Tithe Barn Lane roundabouts, but sadly Mr Humphrey, a business owner from Billericay, Essex, died at the scene.

The two vehicles were both severely damaged in the collision, and the lorry driver was taken to the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford with non-life-threatening injuries.

The road remained closed for almost nine hours while investigations were carried out.