A driver who was killed when his car smashed into a wall in Longfield "choked with laughter" moments before losing control of the vehicle, an inquest heard.

Martin Smith, 58, died from multiple severe head injuries when his silver Mercedes collided with a boundary wall of a home in Main Road, Longfield, at 5.10pm on October 18.

His front seat passenger, brother Terence, suffered serious injuries and was flown to a London hospital.

He told the inquest at Gravesend Old Town Hall that his brother “appeared to be choking with laughter” after the two shared a joke, at which point he seemed to fall unconscious and became unresponsive.

“We were having a laugh as we drove along,” Terence confirmed to the coroner.

“As we came down towards the main road he started laughing and his head went back and it did appear that he was trying to catch his breath.

“He appeared to be choking with laughter.”

Terence, who Martin had picked up from Longfield train station moments before the crash, told the hearing that he had never seen his brother have such an episode before.

Dr Naimish S Gandhi, from Martin’s doctors practice in Longfield, said that - while he did suffer from asthma - the only record of him experiencing something similar was back in 1996.

Although Terence was able to steer the car and avoid oncoming traffic, he was unable to to slow the vehicle down because he could not reach the handbrake.

It is thought that the car had reached a speed of around 40 miles per hour by the time it hit the wall.

Police constable Mark Chapelhow attended the scene and told the inquest that there was nothing more Terence could have done to prevent the crash, nor was his brother at fault.

He did, however, reveal that Martin was not wearing a seatbelt at the time, and that he may have survived had he worn one.

Coroner Roger Hatch concluded that the retired company director’s death was due to a road traffic collision and expressed his sympathy to the family.

Martin was described as “a popular man” and several floral tributes were left at the scene following the incident.

One thanked him for “special and happy memories”.

“My dad, my hero, my everything, I cannot believe you have gone,” it read.

“You have left behind so many special and very happy memories, ones I will cherish and never, ever forget.”

A statement from the family described him as “a very loving husband to his wife Joanne and father to his four children.”