AN EMINENT medical researcher and inventor died after he was hit by a car crossing a Hampshire road on his way home.

Mystery surrounds why retired Derek Myhill, 75, who had a 20-year international career, was in the Totton area where the accident occurred on November 16 last year and why he crossed the road at all.

An inquest at Southampton heard how a Land Rover collided with the unmarried Mr Myhill, of Salisbury, as he crossed the A36 Salisbury Road, close to the Pauletts Lane junction.

A report found that Mr Myhill was three times the legal drink drive limit.

The inquest was told that the accident happened shortly after 6pm as the Land Rover Defender was coming east from Junction Two of the M27.

Mr Myhill received multiple injuries and would have died instantly, according to a pathology report.

Driver Adrian Dennis, from the Isle of Wight, said in a statement read at the inquest: "I did everything I could to prevent it."

The inquest heard how Mr Myhill had told a friend he met for drinks in Southampton that he was heading home by bus.

Giving evidence, principal investigator PC Paul Brown, of Totton Roads Policing, said they could only speculate what bus Mr Myhill had taken and why he had not continued his journey, but suggestions are he could have stopped to relieve himself or was interested in property in the area.

PC Michael Gunby, collision investigator for Hampshire Police, said the Land Rover was calculated to be travelling at 23 to 27 miles an hour at the moment of impact, well inside the 60mph speed limit, and that he could not attribute any fault to the driver.

He added that pathology reports had shown Mr Myhill’s alcohol reading was 251 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood, 3.1 times the drink drive limit.

In a statement, a chemical pathologist said that this level could impair judgement.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Coroner Keith Wiseman said: "We’re left with a mystery there and it’s a really sad end to a distinguished life.

"There’s no suggestion that Mr Myhill was trying to do himself any harm and no suggestion of fault on the part of anyone else."

Speaking after the inquest, Mr Myhill’s brother Keith, 68, from Cheshire, said: "He was a remarkable person. He had a varied and exciting life so it’s not a surprise to us that he had an eventful death. He was a very clever person, multi-talented."

Another brother David, 66, from Darlington, added: "He was a one-off."