The circumstances around the deaths of Phil Spencer’s elderly parents have been described as "some of the most tragic I ever heard" by a coroner.

David and Anne Spencer, parents to the Location, Location, Location star, died after their car toppled off a narrow bridge and landed upside down in a stream on their farm in Littlebourne, near Canterbury.

During the inquest held today, serious collision investigator, DS Chris Wade said he believed there had been a "momentary loss of concentration" by Mrs Spencer, 82, who was driving.

In his statement given at Oakwood House, Maidstone, the officer described the farm track leading over the bridge as an 's' bend, adding that a vehicle goes up a slight incline, "severely restricting the driver's view".

He said on August 18, the parents-of-four decided to go for lunch and Mr Spencer’s carer, Veronica Francis was in the back while David was in the front passenger seat.

"As the couple chatted the vehicle veered to the offside and the tyre fell off the edge causing the vehicle to fall and overturn, " DS Wade said.

"A great deal of care is needed to negotiate the extremely narrow bridge and this was a most tragic accident caused by a momentary lack of concentration."

The accident happened at the beloved couple’s Upper Garrington Farm.

Mrs Spencer had mild Parkinson's disease but had recently been declared medically fit to drive and the vehicle had no defects, he added.

After the car toppled over, Ms Francis managed to escape the vehicle and raise the alarm.

The couple's son Robert, who manages the farm, raced to the scene and with others managed to free his parents.

They were given CPR until the ambulance arrived but did not recover and were later declared dead in hospital.

Mr Spencer’s cause of death was given as aspiration pneumonitis due to submersion.

While Mrs Spencer died from aspiration pneumonia, a hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury, due to submersion.

Coroner Sarah Clarke said: "These are some of the most tragic circumstances I have heard and my only conclusion is that they died as a result of an accident.”

Speaking previously to KentOnline from his parents’ farmhouse, Phil, 53, and his three siblings said they had been overwhelmed by messages of sympathy and support.

The TV presenter, alongside brother Robert, 56, and sisters Caryn, 51, and Helen, 48, also remembered the idyllic upbringing their parents provided, and the couple’s many passions and contributions to the community.

In recent years, Mr Spencer had been impaired by dementia while Mrs Spencer was suffering with mild Parkinson’s, but both continued to enjoy life at Upper Garrington Farm, which had been their home for almost 60 years.

David and Anne first met at a New Year's Eve party in Canterbury in the early 1960s.

He was the son of a bank manager who studied engineering at Loughborough University, where he also excelled at hockey, and she was the daughter of a GP and a teacher at Waltham Primary School.

After a spell in finance in London, David followed his heart and bought the farm.

And so began their varied and productive life, both off and on the farm, while raising their four children in a setting redolent of the picturesque TV show, The Darling Buds of May.