The cause of a crash which killed a promising young footballer remains a mystery, an inquest was told.

Hythe Town player Henry Fulcher died after his car hit a tree. A coroner concluded that the death was accidental but there was little evidence to explain the cause.

Mr Fulcher, 18, from Greatstone, had not been drinking or on drugs, had not been using his mobile phone and was not going too fast.

He had no problems with his car, the road conditions or the weather.

But he had not been wearing his seat belt and it was actually clipped in but behind his back, preventing his car setting off any alarm or warning light.

Mr Fulcher died on the B2080 Appledore Road in Tenderden and it was not clear why he had been driving there at the time.

Police had considered whether or not this had been a deliberate crash but Central and South East Kent coroner Rachel Redman said: “There is no evidence in relation to that and I would completely exclude it. I can only conclude accidental death.”

Mr Fulcher, of The Parade, died after he crashed into the tree at about 6.25pm on Tuesday, August 4 last year.

A post mortem examination confirmed that Mr Fulcher - who worked at the Abercrombie and Fitch clothes shop at Ashford Designer Outlet - died from multiple serious injuries and toxicology tests found no alcohol or drugs in his system.

Sgt Hannah Brown told the inquest, at Folkestone Magistrates Court, that CCTV ruled out the involvement of another vehicle but no eyewitnesses could be found.

Checks on his mobile phone showed that he had not been using it at the time.

PC Dave Kirk, of Kent Police’s forensic collision investigation team, said that Mr Fulcher, driving a white Vauxhall Corsa, had negotiated a gentle bend but had then continued in a straight line directly into the tree.

He said there had been no pre-impact emergency braking and no evidence of any sharp steering.

PC Kirk said the car was found to have no contributory defects and Mr Fulcher had been driving below the 60mph limit.

But PC Kirk said he could not rule out a distraction from any passing hazard at the time.

Mr Fulcher’s father, David, said that his son was driving away from the direction of his football training site but towards his girlfriend's home.

But he said he still could not be sure why his son was on that road that evening.