ALCOHOL played a part in a fatal road traffic collision near Lyneham which killed William Ainsworth, an inquest concluded.

Ian Singleton, Assistant Coroner for Swindon and Wiltshire, made his ruling after reading statements and hearing evidence from witnesses and investigators.

The hearing at Salisbury was told toxicologists found it difficult to discern whether the amount of alcohol in the blood of the driver was high enough to be over the limit at the time of the crash, and his friends said he had been fit to drive.

However, the alcohol amount was close to the limit and would have been enough to significantly impair his ability to drive safely, said an expert witness.

William and his friends had drunk Strongbow Dark Fruit Ciders and visited a Bassett nightclub before getting into a Volkswagen Golf to travel to Chippenham.