An Olympic hopeful died when his mother lost control of her car on a motorway, an inquest heard.

Oxford student Thomas Llewellyn-Usher, who was in the middle of the selection process for the Great Britain rowing team, was asleep in the back seat of his mother Carol's Volvo estate when it drifted across the carriageway of the M5 in Gloucestershire.

The car collided with another vehicle before crashing into trees on an embankment. He died despite the efforts of a passing paramedic and nurse who tried to save him. The 19-year-old, who was studying for a master's degree in engineering at Oxford Brookes University, was on course for this year's Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He had rowed for Wales twice and was in the Great Britain squad.

The Cotswold coroner, Lester Maddrell, recorded a verdict of accidental death.