A TEENAGER who died when his car left a Fenland village road was driving at more than 100mph, an inquest heard yesterday.

Tom Williams was giving three friends a lift back from a party near Wisbech when he hit a dip in the road in Barroway Drove.

The 19-year-old, who lived at Woodlands Cottage in Ryston, was driving towards Stow Bardolph from Outwell when the accident happened on March 6.

In a statement read to an inquest in King’s Lynn yesterday, Mr Williams’ friend Billie Dee Mckenzie said they had arranged to get a lift back from the party which she thought was in either Upwell or Outwell.

The 15-year-old said: “I knew him from the town. I knew him through his sister Jasmine. He was always called by his surname Williams. He had access to his dad’s car – a bright green Ford Fiesta.

“He had given me a lift on previous occasions. He always drove very fast. He had a reputation for being a crazy driver. But I was always happy to get into a car with him,” she added.

She said that Mr Williams had arrived at the party at around midnight and they had left the party an hour later with their friends Jason Palmer and Daniella Bottone.

“Tom was driving and I was sitting in the front passenger seat,” she said.

“I know that Tom and I were both wearing seat belts, but I don’t know about those in the back.

“Tom was driving normally to start with but when we got on the straight road he put his foot down. The car got faster and faster. I watched the speed dial go 80, 90, 100mph.”

She said that something suddenly went wrong and they were getting thrown around the car.

“I felt a bump followed by another. Nobody said anything. I knew something was wrong. I heard the sound of trees against the car.”

The inquest heard that temporary road signs warning of a ramp on the road had been found face down.

Simon Hall, from the Norfolk police serious collision investigation team, said Mr Williams had lost control when he came across a dip in the road.

He said that he believed the driver “lost control as a consequence of his excessive speed and his inability to control his vehicle at that speed.”

But he said the signing was clearly “inadequate”. He said that he had driven along the road at the 40mph speed limit and had not had any difficulty.

Delivering his verdict, Greater Norfolk coroner William Armstrong said: “What happened was that Tom passed over this dip in the road and his vehicle left the road to the offside.

“It is clear that Tom was driving his car far too quickly. We have learned that speed was in excess of 100mph.”

He said that the crash had happened as a result of Tom’s excessive speed and his inability to control the car at that speed.

He recorded a narrative verdict that Tom Williams died as a result of a road traffic collision.