A retired policeman was run over by his own car after he failed to put the handbrake on, an inquest has been told.

Alan Cripps, 79, is thought to have got out of his Citroen Xsara to open a gate to his sloped driveway when the vehicle rolled forward, knocking him over and trapping him beneath it.

Attempts were made to resuscitate the pensioner but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The tragedy shocked villagers in Wingham, where Mr Cripps was well-known as a former parish councillor. He also ran an antiques shop in the High Street with his wife, Clarrie, for many years.

An inquest in Canterbury on Tuesday heard the accident happened in Pett’s Lane on January 26.

Mr Cripps returned to his home with his 82-year-old wife from an appointment at the Pilgrims Hospice in Canterbury.

Mrs Cripps had been suffering with terminal cancer and has since died.

Assistant coroner Alan Blunsdon was told she was too confused and shocked to give a detailed recollection to police at the time of the tragedy.

One of the first on the scene of the incident was Mervyn Cage, who lives in the village and had been driving along the unmade Pett’s Lane in his Land Rover to his smallholding.

He told the hearing: “I saw Mrs Cripps standing beside the car and she waved at me. I got out and asked what was wrong and she said Alan had fallen.

“I saw he was face down under the car and its engine was still running so I switched it off and put the handbrake on.

“I then ran to nearby cottages and asked a neighbour to call an ambulance and the fire service.

“I didn’t want to try and move him in case it caused any more damage.”

Firefighters helped free Mr Cripps and paramedics fought to revive him but were unsuccessful.

A post mortem later revealed he had suffered chest compression, causing asphyxia.

PC Mark Wooding, of Kent Police’s serious crash investigation unit, told the coroner that, when he arrived at the scene, the Citroen was a short way down the slope, slightly to the right of the path.

He also described the five-bar gate which neighbours had said Mr Cripps had taken to leaving open in recent months when out in the car because his wife had become too frail to get out to open and shut it.

But it was suggested by a family member that the post which secured the gate was faulty and, as it was a very windy day, it could have blown across the drive, forcing Mr Cripps to have to stop and get out to push it out of the way.

PC Wooding said: “The Citroen was examined and the handbrake found to be in working order when tested.

“It is most likely the handbrake had not been set and the car rolled down, knocking Mr Cripps over and trapping him underneath.”

Returning a conclusion of accidental death, Mr Blunsdon said: “The practice Mr Cripps had adopted as his wife became increasingly frail was to leave the gate open.

“But on the 26th of January, for some inexplicable reason which the evidence hasn’t revealed to any great extent, there seemed to be a problem with the clear entrance into the driveway.

“It’s possible that the wind had moved the gate so that it was blocking it.

“It’s clear that Mr Cripps got out and, from Mr Cage’s evidence and on the balance of probabilities, that the handbrake had not been applied at all.

“Why he left the handbrake unengaged will never really be known.

“But one can assume he felt that this would just be a quick matter and in his hurry to achieve that, he overlooked the fact that the car was probably likely to roll down the drive.

“My view is that concluding this was a road traffic collision doesn’t properly sum up the evidence together.

“This was a truly tragic accident.”