Two drivers, one from Oxford, died after a head-on collision when one of them, a cancer patient, drove round a bend on the wrong side of the road, an inquest heard.

Terry Allsworth and Winifred Byres died from their injuries as a result of the accident, along the A338 at Grove, near Wantage, on October 11 last year.

Nichola McCarvery, one of Mr Allsworth's two passengers, told the inquest in Oxford: "We were coming round the corner going about 40mph when I remember Terry saying 'What's he doing then?' and I saw a red car on our side of the road coming towards us."

Mr Byers, 63, of Worthington Way, Wantage, a retired service engineer, was driving north alone in his red Vauxhall Astra when the two cars collided.

Mr Byers was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, but died later. Mr Allsworth, 20, of Derwent Avenue, Marston, Oxford, died from chest injuries in the hospital three days later.

Pc Gary Baldwin, an accident investigator, said an examination of the road showed that the Astra had crossed the road into the wrong lane as it left the bend.

Dr David Davies, a pathologist at the John Radcliffe, said Mr Byres was receiving chemotherapy and medication for stomach cancer which could have caused him to momentarily lose concentration or consciousness at the wheel.

Coroner Nicholas Gardiner recorded verdicts of death as the result of an accident on both drivers.

He added there was no sure way of knowing why Mr Byres strayed into the wrong lane, but that it could have been because of fatigue or a sudden loss of consciousness due to his medical condition.