A taxi drove over a drunken man lying spreadeagled in the road, an inquest heard.

Michael Caulfield died four hours later at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton.

Mr Caulfield, 27, a postgraduate student from Bristol, was staying in Brighton to celebrate his brother's wedding.

Witnesses described how he staggered down the middle of Grand Junction Road at about 1am on July 1 before sitting and then lying in a star shape in the road.

Seconds later a taxi driven by Alastair Brown-Douglas drove over him.

Neither the cabbie nor his passenger saw Mr Caulfield, the inquest was told.

Mr Brown-Douglas, who lives in Brighton, said: "The impact was the first thing I knew about."

Police have taken no action against the cabbie, the Brighton inquest heard.

Tests showed Mr Caulfield was more than twice the legal driving limit.

There were also traces of cocaine in his body.

Relatives questioned whether there had been a mix-up over blood samples because they believe drug using would have been out of character.

Mr Caulfield had arrived in Brighton with his father for his brother Peter's stag night.

During the evening the brothers and a group of friends went to a nightclub and became separated among the crowds.

Later when Peter Caulfield went out to buy some chips he saw a commotion.

He said: "Being nosy I went over to see what was going on and as I got closer I recognised my brother's shoes."

The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.