At an inquest in Harrogate on Wednesday, the Coroner for the Western District of North Yorkshire, Geoff Fell, recorded an accidental death verdict on James Hyder, of Horsefair, Boroughbridge, who died after driving to a petrol station where he also bought soft drinks.

Mr Fell heard that less than a mile into the journey back from the filling station at Quarry Moor, on the outskirts of Ripon, to Dallamires Lane where he worked, Mr Hyder's Ford Fiesta XR2 ran off the city's bypass and crashed into trees and a lamp post.

Witnesses said the Fiesta had been doing over 60mph on the approach to a roundabout and had shown no signs of slowing down before leaving the road on the nearside, crossing a verge, plunging down an embankment and coming to rest on its roof.

The inquest heard Mr Hyder had eaten the sandwiches on the drive back to work in a car he had bought only weeks before the accident on November 28 and which had spent most of its time sitting in the yard at his workplace.

Police accident investigator Paul Davenport told Mr Fell that Mr Hyder had had opportunity for no more than four and a half hours' sleep in the 24 hours leading up to his death from head injuries sustained at 9am.

He had been drinking after work the previous day, had been in Boroughbridge Methodist Church at 2.50am – he had called the minister the Rev Stuart Ellis to tell him the doors were insecure and he was ''sitting there for a while'' – and then started work again.

Tests had shown a blood alcohol level 20 microgrammes over the drink-drive limit and traces of cannabis. ''And there is a distinct possibility he was still eating sandwiches as he drove towards the scene,'' the officer added.

Summing-up, Mr Fell said the evidence strongly suggested that during the journey Mr Hyder had eaten sandwiches and opened a pack of cigarettes. ''Distractions in the car usually focus on mobile telephones, but eating can be equally dangerous.''

He said witnesses had described the car as ''drifting off the road'', but in spite of Mr Hyder's lack of sleep he was not convinced he had fallen asleep at the wheel.

The amount of alcohol and the lack of sleep together with the probability he was eating would not have helped his reactions.

''He was not aware of the situation developing around him,'' said Mr Fell.