A MUM died after being left in a hot car for 16 hours following a party attended by ‘up to 400 people’ at a caravan site.

Donna Smith, from Bampton, was placed in the vehicle in the early hours of June 23 to sleep off the ‘very large volume’ of alcohol she drunk at the event.

The care worker’s partner checked on her twice the next day – when temperatures reached close to 30C – before discovering she had passed away at about 5.30pm.

A police sergeant at the scene was quoted as saying she had ‘cooked to death’, but the cause was given as alcohol intoxication as her inquest concluded at Oxford Coroners’ Court.

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An emotional hearing was attended by five family members, including the 39-year-old's mum, son and sister, while her partner John Whittington appeared via video link.

The court was told how Ms Smith had attended an 80th birthday party on the night of June 22 at The Paddocks in Weald Street, Bampton, where she had moved with Mr Whittington just three weeks before.

Mr Whittington was DJing at the event, which he said attracted ‘300 to 400 people’ despite government coronavirus restrictions.

She had been drinking heavily, with a toxicology report finding the amount of alcohol in her blood was six times the legal driving limit.

Mr Whittington told the inquest that at about 1am Ms Smith was ‘tired and unsteady on her feet’, so he drove his car to the marquee where the party was held to pick her up.

He parked outside their home address, but ‘couldn’t lift her’ out of the vehicle so let her sleep in the front passenger seat.

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The court heard Mr Whittington, who had been with his partner for about four-and-a-half years, checked on her at 9am the next day to find her still asleep.

Ms Smith woke briefly and told him she was cold, so he ‘closed the window but with a bit of air flow through it’ before leaving and returning to find her 'snoring' at 1pm.

Mr Whittington also insisted his partner had access to a water bottle in the vehicle, even though this detail was absent from his initial police statement.

That afternoon he cooked her dinner, but discovered her unresponsive at 5.30pm so attempted CPR and called 999.

Paramedics and police were called to the site, although investigative officer DC Oliver Harrison reported Mr Whittington's 'lack of action' did not amount to criminality.

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Ms Smith's mum, Linda Parker, said in court: “To me as a mum, that’s not the story in my head. He left her in the car for so long.”

DC Harrison also apologised for a comment made on the day by fellow officer, PS Paul Smith, who said it looked like Ms Smith had ‘cooked to death’ in the car.

He said: “We’re in no place to give a cause of death.

“The way he’s worded that is extremely poor.”

Oxfordshire coroner Darren Salter recorded a conclusion of alcohol-related death.