AN ELDERLY brother and sister from Lancaster died after he lost control of the car while driving in North Yorkshire, an inquest has heard.

Robert and Esther Wilson, aged 81 and 84, had lived together all their lives at Pinfold Lane, Skerton, in the same house where they were born.

They were on one of their regular afternoon drives on Friday, March 8, when the car veered out of control, eventually hitting a verge and flipping over twice.

Subsequent investigations showed that he had not been wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

Mr Wilson was taken to Leeds by air ambulance, dying eight days later, while Miss Wilson died at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary four days later.

Their niece, Rosemary Hyslop of East View, Lancaster, told the inquest that her uncle had had a minor stroke in 1994 and, earlier this year, had suffered from pleurisy.

However, his GP had seen him the day before and pronounced him in good health.

She said: "He was an absolutely perfect driver, very safe.

He would never take risks," and remembered being taken for a drive in the Ford Focus car involved in the accident when her uncle bought it, around two years previously.

Her uncle would, she added, always wear a seat belt - she suggested he may have removed it because he or his sister was feeling unwell.

Post mortems found that Miss Wilson's death had been caused by head injuries sustained in the crash, while head injuries and pneumonia where responsible for Mr Wilson's death, with his previous stroke also a factor.

Traffic constable David Taylor of North Yorkshire police said that investigations had revealed that the car must have been travelling at between 66 and 88 miles per hour.

The investigation revealed an over-steer on the bend, probably in an attempt to correct the car.

This may, he added, have been caused because Mr Wilson was distracted by something in the car or because he entered the bend too quickly.

Eyewitnesses reported that there were no other road users, added TC Taylor, and the incident did not appear to have been caused by fatigue.

Recording a verdict of misadventure, North Lancs coroner, George Howson, said: "Unfortunately, these things do happen and, particularly unfortunately, on this occasion it had fatal results."