Speed was a factor in the death of a 20-year-old chef whose car left the road, hit a tree and rebounded to be hit by a friend he was overtaking, an inquest heard.

Speed was a factor in the death of a 20-year-old chef whose car left the road, hit a tree and rebounded to be hit by a friend he was overtaking, an inquest heard.

Daniel Bayle, who lived at the Crown at Sheringham and worked at the Pheasant Hotel at Kelling, died in the crash on November 15 last year.

Mr Bayle and two friends left work and were heading to Sheringham for a drink when the collision happened at about 9.45pm.

Giving evidence to the hearing in Norwich, Ruaraidh Wilkinson said he had been Mr Bayle's passenger travelling behind Dominic Rust on the A149 at about 60mph. Both were driving Vauxhall Corsas.

Mr Bayle changed down a gear and drifted into the carriageway to overtake Mr Rust. Mr Wilkinson said he was "slightly apprehensive" because of the speed, it was night and he had little experience of Mr Bayle's driving.

"I felt a thud, some sort of impact," he added.

Mr Rust said he could not recall what speed he was travelling but he became aware of Mr Bayle over-taking and started to slow down.

"He gradually got in front of me but there's an adverse camber on that road. It threw him off the road and into the embankment.

"It flung him into a tree on the opposite side and he landed upside down on my side of the road."

He agreed that his car had then collided with Mr Bayle's.

The inquest in Norwich heard that Mr Rust told a police officer he had been driving at 70mph but was later unsure.

PC Ian Barker said the topography of the road meant Mr Rust had to have been within 60m of Mr Bayle's car to see it hit the tree, and therefore did not have time to stop.

He concluded that the speed of both vehicles was a factor in the collision.

"The decision to overtake led to the loss of control and the speed of the silver Corsa [Mr Rust's car] meant he was unable to avoid a collision."

Daniel, son of Crown pub manager Geoff Bayle, died the following day from multiple injuries.

Greater Norwich coroner William Armstrong recorded a verdict of death by road-traffic collision.

The death was the second in two days involving young chefs. The previous evening Warren Tyrrell from Northrepps, who worked at Overstrand Garden Centre, also died when his Astra SRi car hit a wall just outside Cromer. An inquest earlier this month heard a policeman say Mr Tyrrell was driving too fast for the wet conditions and lost control.