AN inexperienced teenage driver was killed when he lost control of a high-powered car on a bend, an inquest was told

Student Kaushik Ramesh Jhala, aged 17, is thought to have been travelling at between 50 and 60 mph along Deane Road, Bolton, when the Ford Sierra he was driving suddenly started to skid across the street and smashed into two parked vehicles outside an off-licence.

Firefighters had to cut Kaushik, of Ducie Avenue, Deane, and his cousin Jai Dhinajlal Jhala out of the car after the accident, which happened last November.

But Kaushik's chest injuries were so severe that he died in the Royal Bolton Hospital two weeks later.

His father Ramesh told Bolton Coroner's Court: "He only passed his test a few months before the accident. I had bought him a Vauxhall Corsa. I don't know where he got the Sierra from."

Kaushik's cousin, Jai, told the court that Kaushik had picked him up in the Sierra shortly before 10pm on November 10. They drove around for a while before deciding to go home.

Jai told the court: "He was driving at more than 30 mph down Deane Road and started to lose control. The next thing I remember was the ambulance men. I was in hospital for a long time afterwards."

Eyewitness Anthony Leggat, who ran to help Kaushick and Jai after the crash said the Sierra, which had 2900cc engine, was travelling at between 50 and 60 mph.

Police were unable to find out who owned the car. An accident investigator said it did not have any defects that could have caused an accident.

Coroner Jennifer Leeming recorded a verdict of accidental death.