A 22-YEAR-OLD Tidworth man who died following a crash with an oncoming vehicle had his “young life cut short”, a coroner has said.

Grahame Short ruled that Chris Guilford’s death was as a result of injuries sustained in a road traffic collision near Great Shoddesden in January.

An inquest heard this week how the father of two lost control of his Peugeot 206 at around 5.30pm on 13 January as he negotiated a slight bend on the unnamed 60mph road, which runs between Weyhill and Tidworth.

According to reports, Mr Guilford attempted to correct his skid, but instead moved onto the opposite carriageway and collided with an oncoming Ford Cougar.

Passers-by attempted to haul an unconscious Mr Guilford from the wreckage, but the landscaper died before he could be freed.

The other driver, Thomas Basford, of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), said he was returning home from work in Tidworth when the crash happened.

He had noticed headlights coming towards him on his side of the road.

He slowed down before seeing the headlights “zig-zagging” as the car approached.

He said: “I thought that he might be out of control.

“As his headlights got closer I remember thinking there was nowhere I could go.

“Then I realised we were going to hit.”

After freeing himself, Mr Basford went over to help Mr Guilford, but received no response.

Passer-by Robert Tugwell found Mr Guilford had a pulse, but was unconscious and seriously injured.

On the agreement of the emergency services, he tried to remove the 22-year-old from the vehicle, only to discover he was trapped.

Mr Tugwell said Mr Guilford died soon afterwards.

Pathologist Hayley Burnley said the 22-year-old’s death was due to multiple injuries sustained in the crash, including internal injuries.

Although he was unable to determine the exact speed of Mr Guilford’s car, he said it would have been “faster” than that of Mr Basford’s.

Mr Clifford added that the Peugeot had hit Mr Basford’s car at a “90 degree angle” and suffered “massive damage” in the crash.

He later quoted a toxicology report, showing that Mr Guilford had a small amount of alcohol in his blood at the time of the crash.

Concluding, coroner Mr Short said he believed the alcohol and the speed of Mr Guilford’s vehicle were both factors in the cause of the crash.

After ruling his death as a road traffic collision, Mr Short offered his condolences to Mr Guilford’s attending family and friends.

He said: “This was a young life cut short in what must have been a terrible shock to all of you.”